ИСТИНА

The World Health Organization notes the relationship between poverty and disease, using the special term “diseases of poverty” to describe a group of diseases, which are typical of countries with a low level of socio-economic development. These include diseases specific to tropical and subtropical regions, to describe which the term “neglected tropical diseases” (NTD) is used. Common to NTD is that effective drugs have been developed for their treatment and prevention, but the socio-economic situation in the regions where they are spread is such that national health systems are usually not able to provide the population with quality care. The unprecedented scale of migration at the beginning of the XXI century brings the problem of NTD to a new level. The main migration routes usually begin in those regions for which NTD are endemic, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Latin America and others. Migration flows, including refugees, internally displaced persons, economic migrants, mainly consist of the poorest people. It is these segments of the population that are primarily vulnerable to “diseases of poverty”, and especially to NTD, many of which have a long latent period, manifesting themselves only in the later stages, but undermining the body’s capabilities, deplete it, social fiasco. Against the background of forced migration, the problem of NTD takes on new forms. It is obvious that the creation of temporary refugee places of limited area, with poor sanitary conditions, are favorable factors for the transfer of NTD, which, due to migration, have the opportunity to go beyond the historical areas of distribution and are introduced to new areas, revealing themselves, including in urbanized areas. At the same time, only the most resonant infections, such as Ebola, attract the attention of the international community, and the majority of diseases in this group remain outside the social and political agenda. It is obvious that poverty and migration, on the one hand, and “neglected tropical diseases”, on the other, are different manifestations of the same modern challenge, the response to which should be coordinated efforts of the international community.