Cargando…

Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) made a marked transformation for neglected and vulnerable communities in the developing countries from the start, but infectious diseases of poverty (IDoPs) continue to inflict a disproportionate global public health burden with associated consequences, thereb...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tambo, Ernest, Khater, Emad I. M., Chen, Jun-Hu, Bergquist, Robert, Zhou, Xiao-Nong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4692067/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26708575
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40249-015-0091-8
_version_ 1782407230213062656
author Tambo, Ernest
Khater, Emad I. M.
Chen, Jun-Hu
Bergquist, Robert
Zhou, Xiao-Nong
author_facet Tambo, Ernest
Khater, Emad I. M.
Chen, Jun-Hu
Bergquist, Robert
Zhou, Xiao-Nong
author_sort Tambo, Ernest
collection PubMed
description The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) made a marked transformation for neglected and vulnerable communities in the developing countries from the start, but infectious diseases of poverty (IDoPs) continue to inflict a disproportionate global public health burden with associated consequences, thereby contributing to the vicious cycle of poverty and inequity. However, the effectiveness and large-scale coverage of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) have revolutionized malaria treatment just as the control of lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis have benefitted from harnessing the broad-spectrum effect of avermectin-based derivatives. The paradigm shift in therapeutic approach, effected by these two drugs and their impact on community-based interventions of parasitic diseases plaguing the endemic low- and middle-income countries (LIMCs), led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015. However, the story would not be complete without mentioning praziquantel. The huge contribution of this drug in modernizing the control of schistosomiasis and also some intestinal helminth infections had already shifted the focus from control to potential elimination of this disease. Together, these new drugs have provided humankind with powerful new tools for the alleviation of infectious diseases that humans have lived with since time immemorial. These drugs all have broad-spectrum effects, yet they are very safe and can even be packaged together in various combinations. The strong effect on so many of the great infectious scourges in the developing countries has not only had a remarkable influence on many endemic diseases, but also contributed to improving the cost structure of healthcare. Significant benefits include improved quality of preventive and curative medicine, promotion of community-based interventions, universal health coverage and the fostering of global partnerships. The laudable progress and benefits achieved are indispensable in championing, strengthening and moving forward elimination of the IDoPs. However, there is an urgent need for further innovative, contextual and integrated approaches along with the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), replacing the MDGs in ensuring global health security, well-being and economic prosperity for all.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4692067
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-46920672015-12-29 Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty Tambo, Ernest Khater, Emad I. M. Chen, Jun-Hu Bergquist, Robert Zhou, Xiao-Nong Infect Dis Poverty Editorial The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) made a marked transformation for neglected and vulnerable communities in the developing countries from the start, but infectious diseases of poverty (IDoPs) continue to inflict a disproportionate global public health burden with associated consequences, thereby contributing to the vicious cycle of poverty and inequity. However, the effectiveness and large-scale coverage of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) have revolutionized malaria treatment just as the control of lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis have benefitted from harnessing the broad-spectrum effect of avermectin-based derivatives. The paradigm shift in therapeutic approach, effected by these two drugs and their impact on community-based interventions of parasitic diseases plaguing the endemic low- and middle-income countries (LIMCs), led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015. However, the story would not be complete without mentioning praziquantel. The huge contribution of this drug in modernizing the control of schistosomiasis and also some intestinal helminth infections had already shifted the focus from control to potential elimination of this disease. Together, these new drugs have provided humankind with powerful new tools for the alleviation of infectious diseases that humans have lived with since time immemorial. These drugs all have broad-spectrum effects, yet they are very safe and can even be packaged together in various combinations. The strong effect on so many of the great infectious scourges in the developing countries has not only had a remarkable influence on many endemic diseases, but also contributed to improving the cost structure of healthcare. Significant benefits include improved quality of preventive and curative medicine, promotion of community-based interventions, universal health coverage and the fostering of global partnerships. The laudable progress and benefits achieved are indispensable in championing, strengthening and moving forward elimination of the IDoPs. However, there is an urgent need for further innovative, contextual and integrated approaches along with the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), replacing the MDGs in ensuring global health security, well-being and economic prosperity for all. BioMed Central 2015-12-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4692067/ /pubmed/26708575 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40249-015-0091-8 Text en © Tambo et al. 2015 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Editorial
Tambo, Ernest
Khater, Emad I. M.
Chen, Jun-Hu
Bergquist, Robert
Zhou, Xiao-Nong
Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
title Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
title_full Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
title_fullStr Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
title_full_unstemmed Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
title_short Nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
title_sort nobel prize for the artemisinin and ivermectin discoveries: a great boost towards elimination of the global infectious diseases of poverty
topic Editorial
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4692067/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26708575
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40249-015-0091-8
work_keys_str_mv AT tamboernest nobelprizefortheartemisininandivermectindiscoveriesagreatboosttowardseliminationoftheglobalinfectiousdiseasesofpoverty
AT khateremadim nobelprizefortheartemisininandivermectindiscoveriesagreatboosttowardseliminationoftheglobalinfectiousdiseasesofpoverty
AT chenjunhu nobelprizefortheartemisininandivermectindiscoveriesagreatboosttowardseliminationoftheglobalinfectiousdiseasesofpoverty
AT bergquistrobert nobelprizefortheartemisininandivermectindiscoveriesagreatboosttowardseliminationoftheglobalinfectiousdiseasesofpoverty
AT zhouxiaonong nobelprizefortheartemisininandivermectindiscoveriesagreatboosttowardseliminationoftheglobalinfectiousdiseasesofpoverty