大象传媒

Drugs companies and governments have got together to fast track development of a vaccine for Ebola. As the Ebola virus wreaks havoc in West Africa, what more can be done to tackle a long list of neglected tropical diseases, the so-called diseases of the poor that kill and maim millions in the developing world every year?

The diseases under discussion include: Dengue, rabies, protozoa, chagas disease, human african trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, cysticercosis, dracontiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, soil transmitted helminthiasis, buruli ulcer, leprosy, trachoma and yaws.

Manuela Saragosa puts that question to Dr Allan Pamba of the pharmaceutical giant GSK where he is vice president of the East Africa Cluster and African Government Affairs; Julie Jacobson of the Gates Foundation; David Ridley a health economist at Duke University in North Carolina and Simon Brooker who is Professor of Epidemiology and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.