The UK government has announced a fivefold increase in spending on combating neglected tropical diseases as part of an international effort to help rid the world of a group of infectious diseases that currently affect one billion people and kill more than half a million every year.

The move comes ahead of a conference hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in London on 30 January, when governments, charities, multilateral organisations, and the private sector will unite “to help consign the diseases to history.”

Britain’s increased aid—raised from £50m to £245m (€290m; $390m) between 2011 and 2015—focuses largely on four diseases: lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), …