The Lancet
May 02, 2009  Volume 373  Number 9674  Pages 1495 – 1576
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Viewpoint
Rescuing the bottom billion through control of neglected tropical diseases
Peter J Hotez, Alan Fenwick, Lorenzo Savioli, David H Molyneux
People in the bottom billion are the poorest in the world; they are often subsistence farmers, who essentially live on no money and are stuck in a poverty trap of disease, conflict, and no education.1,2 One of the most potent reinforcements of the poverty trap is the neglected tropical diseases (panel 1).3 Almost everyone in the bottom billion has at least one of these diseases. Several diseases coexist in 56 of 58 countries that are home to the people in the bottom billion.3 Here we outline low-cost opportunities to control the neglected tropical diseases through preventive chemotherapy, and propose financial innovations to provide poor individuals with essential drugs.