Swiss Commitment

Every seventh human lives with a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) as a daily reality. The story of neglect of these diseases is the story of the neglect of ordinary people. Our members work in different ways, and on different diseases, but together as the Swiss Alliance against Neglected Tropical Diseases, it is our shared ambition to put an end to the neglect of NTDs.

What are NTDs?

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) may not make the headlines, but they cause human catastrophe for over a billion people worldwide. They affect the development of the smallest children, and keep school-age children at home. They exhaust the finances of poor families and rob them of their productivity.

They infect and re-infect whole communities, and plunge them into an endless cycle of poverty. Some NTDs blind, some disfigure, some disable, some kill. They occur where medical care, safe drinking water, and sanitation are lacking.

In some cases, there are no medicines available to treat them, and they cause stigma and discrimination against those who live with them. The poorest of the poor – mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America – are the hardest hit.