More than 1 billion people worldwide are infected with diseases of poverty . These conditions disproportionately afflict the worlds poorest, either in the developing world, or in developed countries with extreme inequality.

Though well-known conditions such as HIV/AIDS and malaria are considered diseases of poverty, many of the other illnesses that primarily strike the worlds poorest are lesser-known and frequently misunderstood. The World Health Organization has designated about 20 of these conditions as neglected tropical diseases . This diverse array of conditions such as leprosy , dengue, Chagas , and elephantiasis , to name a few dont attract the global media attention or funding that certain wide-ranging tropical diseases, such as malaria, have garnered in recent years.

Neglected diseases cost developing economies billions of dollars annually and lock sufferers into a cycle of poverty that is nearly impossible to escape.

So why does the rest of the world overlook or ignore most diseases of poverty?