14 October 2010: The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report titled “Working to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases” covering 17 neglected tropical diseases that thrive in impoverished settings, where housing is often substandard, environment is contaminated, and disease-spreading insects and animals abound.

According to the report, activities undertaken to mitigate the impact of the diseases so far are producing unprecedented results. The report recognizes the challenges and the opportunities to alleviate the suffering of people in disease-endemic countries. The report also underscores that public health systems must also respond to changing disease patterns resulting from climate change and environmental factors, which may cause the wider spread or resurgence of some diseases. The report thus concludes, inter alia, that sustained environmental and vector management remain key approaches for the prevention of vector-borne neglected tropical diseases. [WHO Press Release]