<font face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><font>Dear all, </font></font></font><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><font><br></font></font></font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><font>The first guys to use the term neglected diseases were the Dutch </font></font>Veeken H, Pécoul B, from MSF, in the year 2000.</font><div>
<font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">The abstract of their paper follows:</font></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Neglected diseases are diseases restricted to poor areas; diseases for which</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">there exist no commercial incentives to invest in the development of new</span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">treatments. Patients suffering from these diseases often have no access to</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">essential drugs; this can be a matter of life and death. Lack of research and</span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">patent protection play a crucial role. Both are cost driven; greed in the West</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">curtails the availability of life-saving drugs for all. Treatment options for</span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">trypanosomiasis and visceral leishmaniasis are lacking. It is recommended that</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">drugs for the treatment of 'neglected diseases' be developed via a centralised,</span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">public approach that is not based on profit, rather than leaving it to free</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">enterprise.</span></div><div><pre><font face="verdana, sans-serif">They did a good shot. Afterwards, many others also started to repeat, including WHO and even the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, </font><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">I wonder if tropical peoples neglect their own diseases. If not, the term may better used by "developed" peoples while the term "tropical" should be </span></pre>
<pre><font face="verdana, sans-serif">preferred by </font><font face="verdana, sans-serif">"d</font><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">eveloping/tropical" peoples. </span></pre><pre><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Good topic for sharing ideas, for a relaxed discussion.</font></pre>
<pre><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Carlos.</font></pre><div><br></div>-- <br><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Carlos H. N. Costa, MD, DSc.</span></div><div style="text-align:left">
<span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical </span></div><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"></span><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">(Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine)</span></div>
<div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">President</span></div><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></span></div><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Universidade Federal do Piauí</span></div>
<div><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Instituto de Doenças Tropicais Natan Portella</span></div><div style="text-align:left"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Rua Artur de Vasconcelos 151-Sul</font></div>
<div><div style="text-align:left"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">64001-450 Teresina-PI</span></div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><div style="text-align:left">Brazil</div><div style="text-align:left">Telephones: +55 86 3222-4377 (W), <div style="text-align:center;display:inline!important">
<div style="text-align:center;display:inline!important">+55 86 3221-3062 (W), </div></div><div style="text-align:center;display:inline!important">+55 86 3237-1075 (R). </div></div><div style="text-align:left"><br></div><div style="text-align:left">
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