Wikipedia:SWASTHA/Neglected tropical diseases in India

Neglected tropical diseases in India are a group of bacterial, parasitic, viral, and fungal infections that are prevalent in India.

The World Health Organization uses the name neglected tropical disease to refer to many tropical diseases in tropical climates such as India, parts of Africa, parts of South America, and parts of Southeast Asia. Although international organizations group many such diseases together, for people in India the neglected tropical diseases in India matter most.

in many of the tropical and sub-tropical developing countries where poverty is rampant. NTDs are a major public health problem in India. Based on information by World Health Organization, there are 17 major parasitic and related infections related to NTDs in India because of its high poverty levels. Most people in India live on less than US$1.25 per day, and 73% of the population lives on less than US$2 per day.

Epidemiology
Most of the NTDs are recognized for being chronic in nature and highly disabling. India’s population is vulnerable to NTDs because most people are poor and live in impoverished environments. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified NTDs into two groups: preventive chemotherapy and transmission control (PCT) NTDs, and innovative and intensified disease management (IDM) NTDs. The most prominent examples of NTDs in India that have been allocated to the PCT group are lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. The main tool for their control is the periodic administration of efficacious, safe, and inexpensive (usually donated) drugs to entire at-risk populations. IDM, on the other hand, focuses on those NTDs that currently lack appropriate tools for large-scale use. These diseases include Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis.

List of diseases
Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study GBD lists the number number of cases in India and its rank.

About India’s NTD Cases
India accounts for nearly one-half of the world’s prevalent cases of visceral leishmaniasis and one-half of the global incident cases of dengue and visual impairment from trachoma. India also accounts for approximately one-third or more of the prevalent cases of leprosy, lymphatic filariasis (LF), cysticercosis, and incident cases of rabies. However, according to WHO, India may account for more than one-half of the global prevalent and new cases of leprosy. In addition, India also accounts for roughly one-quarter of the world’s ascariasis and hookworm cases. The high-disease-burden NTDs in India are not evenly distributed, but instead focused in areas of urban and rural poverty.

Prevention
In recent years India has made important progress towards NTD control and elimination. WHO estimates that in 2015, approximately three-quarters of the more than 200 million Indian children that require deworming for their intestinal helminth infections received mass treatment. India is also achieving a similar level of mass treatment coverage for almost 400 million people who are at risk for LF, while for years the nation has been committed to multidrug therapy for leprosy (together with rifampicin post-exposure prophylaxis), with such measures resulting in important public health gains. This level of mass drug administration needs to continue or expand in order to reach 100 percent of India’s at-risk or infected population. Additional opportunities exist to aid India’s progress against many other NTDs, especially vector-borne diseases such as leishmaniasis, dengue, and other arbovirus infections. For example, India hosts a sophisticated and extensive network of biotechnology organizations and private companies capable of developing next-generation vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics. India has the capacity to become a leader in producing next-generation NTD technologies, which could include new leishmaniasis and dengue vaccines and other technologies. To achieve this goal, India has entered new partnerships with its important and mostly private for-profit biotechs and its research universities. One such example is a dengue vaccine partnership between the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and Sun Pharma. Other partnerships are with the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar and the Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy and Technology Management. Together with increased access to these new technologies, a new vision for public–private partnerships would further reduce its NTD burden and indirectly promote economic development. On the other hand, as per WHO’s 2020 roadmap towards the elimination of at least 10 NTDs, the Indian government is committed to finance and provide various resources needed to remove NTSs risk factors. Some of the factors that are targeted is the elimination of poverty and its exposure by proving the public with clean water, basic sanitation, health education, integrated vector control, and improved living conditions. Also, Gates foundation has expanded its operations in India has to include maternal and child health, health and nutrition services, vaccines and routine immunization, family planning, agricultural development, sanitation, control of infectious diseases, and financial inclusion. These are contributions towards the prevention of NTDs in India’s rising population. India has also built alliances with donor countries like Germany and the UK against NTDs.