Opinion: What record-high funding for neglected diseases doesn’t tell us about R&D for them
In recent weeks, scientists have raced to understand the deadly new coronavirus and develop new tools to diagnose and contain it. As with past emerging threats, I’ve been impressed to see how this novel virus has mobilized collective action that transcends borders, sectors, and individual interests over such a short period.
During those same few weeks, more familiar pathogens have been quietly exacting a far heavier toll on human health and prosperity. Neglected diseases like diarrheal illnesses, tuberculosis, malaria, and pneumonia kill thousands of people every day. But because they have been doing so for decades, they simply don’t catalyze the same urgency we see in the face of a novel, fast-moving outbreak.
