Abuja — As COVID-19 surges globally and leaves fear and panic in its wake, global efforts are underway to find a cure. Yet, the same level of response is lacking for several other infectious diseases that kill millions annually. These kinds of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a broad group of communicable diseases which affect more than two billion people and cost developing economies billions of dollars every year.
Lassa Fever is an example and is endemic in Nigeria and other West African countries such as Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone. At present, it kills about 17.8 percent of those infected in Nigeria. In 2020 alone, there have been nearly 4,000 suspected Lassa fever cases and more than 160 deaths.
First reported in 1969, there is still no viable vaccine to prevent it. An acute viral haemorrhagic illness that is similar to Ebola, the infection could last anywhere from two days to twenty-one days and is spread to humans through contact with food or household items that have been contaminated with rodent urine or faeces or from person-to-person.
Given the drive from the global north for a safe and effective vaccine and treatment for COVID-19, it is evident that for as long as diseases like tuberculosis, Lassa fever, as well as others like trachoma and sleeping sickness are limited to poor and marginalised populations, persistent underfunding will continue
Tuberculosis is another neglected disease. According to the World Health Organization, about 10 million people globally were infected with tuberculosis in 2018 including over one million children. India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa accounted for two thirds of all TB cases. Read more…
