Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a set of infectious diseases arising from a diverse group
of parasitic worms, bacteria, and vector-borne protozoa that affect an estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide. These diseases affect the world?s most vulnerable populations, almost exclusively poor and powerless people living in rural areas and urban slums of low-income countries. NTDs coexist with poverty because they thrive where access to clean water and sanitation are limited and people live without protection from insects that transmit disease.