Reviews recent progress in international efforts to combat the huge scale of suffering caused by tropical diseases. Prepared by the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), the book concentrates on progress made in controlling the Programme's six target diseases: malaria, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and leprosy. Though work supported or coordinated by TDR is emphasized, the report also considers advances in any area of academic or industry research that may contribute to the control of tropical diseases. Throughout, an effort is made to illustrate the diversity of approaches, whether involving the tools of molecular biology or the use of simple insect traps, needed to match the complexity of these difficult and dangerous diseases. The book opens with an overview of selected recent advances that are either challenging conventional research approaches, particularly concerning strategies for drug and vaccine development, or yielding new practical tools for diagnosis, prevention, patient care, treatment, and control. Though the traditional emphasis on drug and vaccine development is readily apparent, the report records a number of new efforts to strengthen field research as a major contribution to the development and refinement of disease control strategies. In keeping with this emphasis, the second chapter, authored by a science writer, presents a series of impressionistic scenes from the field . Focused on the field use of ivermectin for the treatment of onchocerciasis, and multi-drug therapy for leprosy, these first-hand accounts offer a rare opportunity to view the terrain and personalities that compose the real challenge of bringing new technologies to the people who need them. The third and most extensive chapter profiles international research contributing to the control of each of the six target diseases, including numerous examples of the progress made and problems encountered, the opportunities for intervention specific to each disease, and the actions being taken to exploit these opportunities. Whether concerning the effectiveness of pyramidal traps for reducing the numbers of tsetse flies or experimental work indicating that a safe and effective schistosomiasis vaccine may become a reality, the picture that emerges is one of a vastly diversified and globally coordinated effort to outsmart diseases that strike in an almost infinitely varying environment of ecological conditions.

Library has from 1976-1982 issued as unpublished documents filed in PC under TDR annual reports

eng fre.

WHODOC

WHO monograph

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