Funding in Africa is concentrating too heavily on the “big three”

Certain tropical diseases are being unjustly ignored in Africa because funding is so heavily concentrated on the “big three” diseases—HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria—says a new study by David Molyneux and colleagues (PLoS Medicine, doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020336).

The neglected tropical diseases, including schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, and the soil-transmitted helminth infections, are responsible for as many as 500 000 deaths a year. But the international health community gives priority to the big three.

“Instead of 95% of funding being addressed to the big three, give them 90% and we will be able to do a …