About the Nonprofit
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The Situation
The majority of the world's population lives under unacceptable healthcare conditions. Though hardly known in the developed world, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) afflict 1 in 6 people, or approximately 1.4 billion individuals. NTDs are severely debilitating, lower cognitive function in children, and hamper economic development. Despite their prevalence, NTDs remain largely overlooked by the pharmaceutical industry due to their lack of profitability.
Our Mission
Drugs & Diagnostics for Tropical Diseases (DDTD) is a non-profit 501c3 research organization created to discover new treatments and diagnostics that affect predominantly vulnerable populations.
Eliminating Diseases and Importance of Diagnostics
At DDTD we embrace the ideal of eliminating diseases that do not belong to the 21st century, especially those due to parasitic worms. Diagnostics are critical to support all stages of disease elimination programs. Diagnostics are used to (1) map a disease and plan the fight – the first step towards eliminating a disease, (2) monitor the progress of interventions such as mass-drug administration or vaccination programs, (3) decide when interventions can be safely halted, and (4) implement post-intervention surveillance program to ensure that the disease is not reemerging.
Though Zika and Ebola were not targeted for elimination, more robust surveillance networks, supported by sensitive diagnostics, would have prevented the recent crises.
