The Conversation: Why aren’t we curing the world’s most curable diseases?
Katherine J. Wu, Ph.D. candidate in microbiology at Harvard University

“…Even with all the necessary tools, the world has failed to cure the curable. One-and-a-half billion people across the world suffer from neglected tropical diseases … At least eight of these [13] diseases, including river blindness, already have inexpensive, safe, and effective treatments or interventions. For less than 50 cents per person, the United States could cure a fifth of the world’s population of these severely debilitating and unnecessary diseases. In spite of this, the United States allocates nearly as little to treating and preventing neglected tropical diseases around the world as it does to drugs for erectile dysfunction. … Funding from the U.S. and other countries could help in the final push to eradication, and some argue that funding from the individual countries themselves could help. … By increasing awareness and funding of neglected tropical disease eradication, the United States will be making one of the best global investments possible. The rest of the world has waited long enough” (10/24).