Global health: neglected diseases and access to medicines.

The World Health Organization has developed a comprehensive plan to deal with neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Compared with a decade ago, more resources are being spent to address the problem of neglected diseases, and considerable progress has been made. However, NTDs remain neglected, deepening the global inequities in health. The current efforts do not implement a multiprong strategy and are effective in the short term, but do not generate long-term, sustainable solutions. This article discusses the current successes in providing access to medicine for treatment of a multitude of neglected diseases, and the opportunities to achieve global equality in health.