22 September 2008
Previously neglected tropical diseases are to be targeted following a new £50 million commitment from DFID. The money will go towards controlling painful, debilitating and potentially deadly parasites and bacterial infections such as Guinea worm, river blindness and bilharzias. This announcement comes at the start of a week of action on poverty at the United Nations in New York, in which progress on healthcare will be a major priority.
Top of the list for attention is Guinea worm. People living in rural areas in developing countries get Guinea worm from drinking dirty water containing the tiny water fleas which carry the disease.
The person's skin swells and becomes infected as the worm, sometimes 3 feet long, painfully emerges through the flesh. A Guinea worm can take anything from a few weeks to a year to come through a sufferer's blistered skin, usually on the arms, legs or stomach.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "Around 1 billion people suffer from one or more painful, debilitating tropical diseases. Thirty years ago, scientific breakthroughs led to doctors eradicating smallpox by developing a vaccine. We don’t need drugs to eradicate Guinea worm. The solution is simple. Protect water supplies from contamination by identifying and containing cases, and in just five years Guinea worm could be eradicated."
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