In a New England Journal of Medicine opinion piece, Peter Hotez of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and colleagues, including Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute of Columbia University, outline how integrating treatment of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) into HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria control efforts could speed up progress toward attaining the sixth Millennium Development Goal.

“The extensive geographic overlap between the big three diseases and the highest-prevalence NTDs, together with the evidence that these infections either promote susceptibility to or worsen the course of the big three, argues for integrating control and elimination efforts – as does consideration of the potential operational synergies,” they write (6/2).