A New Era of Hope for the World's Most Neglected Diseases

The Editorial at PLOS Medicine today heralds a new surge of interest in and hope for medicines to tackle neglected diseases:

It is therefore encouraging that the Gleneagles Communiqué, arising out of this year's G8 summit, specifically called for increased investment to encourage the development of tools for neglected-disease control. Another sign that donors are taking notice is that the US Senate recently passed a foreign operations appropriations bill that included $30 million for neglected diseases. This successful appropriation was in large part due to the advocacy of the Global Health Council, Eric Otteson at Emory University, and Peter Hotez at George Washington University.