Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are the most common infections of the world’s poorest people and the leading causes of chronic disability and poverty in lowand middle-income countries [1–3]. NTDs (Table 1) especially affect children and young women of reproductive age [4], and consequently deprive them of their health and economic potential [3]. NTDs also impair agricultural productivity and...

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, confl ict, and no education. One of the most potent reinforcements of the poverty trap is the neglected tropical diseases (panel 1). Almost everyone in the bottom billion has at least one of these diseases. Several diseases c...

A generic miltefosine pharmaceutical product containing no active pharmaceutical ingredient for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis emerged in Bangladesh for use in the national elimination programme. Poor-quality drugs for the treatment of this fatal neglected tropical disease are life-threatening for the vulnerable patients using them but also have a devastating impact on public health an...