Max Klein from the pharmaceutical campaign of BUKO (Federal Congress of Development Action Groups) will be presenting the problem of neglected tropical diseases on 10 April at 7 pm at Bremen Uebersee-Museum.

Over one billion people worldwide suffer from diseases that are only known to a few people in Germany. The so-called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as noma, river blindness and poisoning from snake bites etc. These are diseases of poverty that at the moment primarily affect the Global South. However, some, such as dengue fever, are now also coming to the fore in Europe and the US. The antidotes are extremely limited: Old and often poorly effective medicines, impractical tests and a lack of vaccination options in most cases make it difficult to provide adequate care.

In the end, it is not diseases that are neglected, but people. The diverse group of NTDs is a good example of how serious global inequality is when it comes to the human right to health and how unsustainable our understanding of "global health" often is. Climate change and globalisation make medical and political solutions more urgent than ever. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain ambitious plans to combat NTDs. If we want to take them seriously, we should first recognise why supposedly "exotic" diseases are actually global everyday problems for us and how they will affect countries involved.

Lecture and discussion on Wednesday, 10 April 2024 at 7 pm at the Ueberseemuseum, Bahnhofsplatz 13, 28195 Bremen