In a new editorial published in PLOS NTDs, Sabin Vaccine Institute president Dr. Peter Hotez urges the global community to recognize how neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) greatly impact Aboriginal groups worldwide and include these populations in NTD control and elimination efforts.
"Aboriginal populations are also disproportionately affected by infectious diseases, especially infections of the skin (e.g., impetigo and tungiasis), eye (e.g., trachoma), and ear (e.g., acute and chronic otitis), dental caries, respiratory and urinary tract infections, and diarrheal diseases. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are especially common among Aboriginal populations. Shown in Table 1 are five representative groups of Aboriginal peoples and their major NTDs. The most common NTDs are intestinal helminth and protozoan infections zoonotic parasitic infections neglected bacterial infections such as trachoma, leprosy, and yaws and a number of important vector-borne illnesses, including malaria and dengue. Many, but not all, are included in the list of 17 NTDs as defined by the World Health Organization; others are on the expanded list of diseases as defined by PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.