According to witnesses testifying on Thursday before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, “[p]romising scientific work is under way against a variety of tropical diseases that affect more than one billion people worldwide, … [b]ut many treatments and vaccines still are in the experimental stages, and big drug manufacturers lack incentives to get such products approved,” CQ HealthBeat reports. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), who chaired the hearing, titled “Addressing the Neglected Diseases Treatment Gap,” said treatments for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are important because “[w]hat yesterday was a disease affecting a tiny population in a remote area of the world can tomorrow become an unexpected global epidemic,” the news service notes. CQ HealthBeat includes comments from researchers with the FDA, the NIH, the pharmaceutical industry and other organizations who testified at the hearing (Reichard, 6/27). A video of the hearing is available online from the subcommittee (6/27).