The World Health Organization identifies as neglected nineteen tropical diseases with bacterial, viral and parasitic etiology, of which two are ophthalmological. These diseases affect over one billion people worldwide, especially communities in developing countries, with limited access to healthcare, clean water, and sewerage. These include: trachoma, onchocerciasis (river blindness), leprosy, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, foodborne trematode infections, dracunculiasis, Chagas disease, Human African trypanosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), cysticercosis, echinococcosis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, Dengue, rabies, yaws, scabies, Buruli ulcer, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses. The global effort in fighting neglected tropical diseases is one of the biggest initiatives in the field of public health. On the 28th of January 2021 the World Health Organization initiated a new ten-year plan for the eradication of neglected tropical diseases. It aims to lower the mortality, new disability cases and suffering of more than one billion people.
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