How foreign aid for medicine yields big economic returns | LA Times

Photo illustration by Parisa Hajizadeh-Amini/Los Angeles; Angel Sinigersky/UnsplashCEGA Faculty Co-Director Ted Miguel urges the Biden administration to expand its support for treatments of Neglected Tropical Diseases, which affect millions and can be prevented for as little as $0.50 per child in this Sunday’s issue of the LA Times:

“Inexpensive treatments — as little as 50 cents per child — can prevent neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), such as intestinal worms, that are among the most common illnesses affecting the world’s poorest and most marginalized people.

New evidence confirms that ensuring widespread access to NTD treatments generates clear health and humanitarian gains, while yielding remarkably high — and sustained — economic returns to society. As many nations turn inward, the United States should seize the opportunity to expand its support for proven, cost-effective solutions to global health challenges.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the developing world, infecting hundreds of thousands of people daily and pushing many into poverty, more than 1 billion people — nearly one-seventh of the world’s population — continue to suffer from tropical diseases like elephantiasis, trachoma, river blindness and intestinal worm infections, which cause severe pain, illness and long-term disabilities.”

Source: Op-Ed: How foreign aid for medicine yields big economic returns