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The Social and Economic Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Neglected Tropical Diseases - Sub-Saharan Africa

Part of the book series: Neglected Tropical Diseases ((NTD))

Abstract

NTDs are characterised by several factors, the most common of which is poverty. Attention needs to be given to the socio-economic impact of NTDs and the wide-reaching effects this has on the health and well-being of affected individuals and households. This impact is not uniform as NTDS are linked to poverty and other axes of inequity: vulnerable groups, e.g. gender, disability and ethnicity may become additionally vulnerable. This chapter addresses these issues whilst highlighting the need to focus on illness as well as disease.

They are hiding their skin so that people cannot see them. I have not heard of anyone who wants others to know about it. No one will allow them to lead, and many people ignore them. They are considered dangerous. People fear contact with them. I feel sorry for them. Even me, I feared that from staying and meeting them we could get the disease … They find it hard to marry, and marriages can break because of this condition. (25 -year-old Ugandan woman)

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Acknowledgement

The authors wish to acknowledge Profs. Pascale Allotey of Monash University, Sally Theobold and Russel Stothard of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Dr. Bertha Garshong of the Research and Development Division of the Ghana Health Service for their comments and inputs into this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dodowa Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Dodowa, Ghana

    Margaret Gyapong, Alexander Nartey & Enoch Oti

  2. CouNTDown Consortium, Dodowa, Ghana

    Margaret Gyapong & Samantha Page

  3. Department of International Public Health in the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Merseyside, UK

    Samantha Page

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  1. Margaret Gyapong
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  2. Alexander Nartey
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  3. Enoch Oti
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  4. Samantha Page
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Correspondence to Margaret Gyapong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ofc of Research, Innovation & Dev, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    John Gyapong

  2. Lymphatic Filariasis Support Centre, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Boakye Boatin

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Gyapong, M., Nartey, A., Oti, E., Page, S. (2016). The Social and Economic Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Gyapong, J., Boatin, B. (eds) Neglected Tropical Diseases - Sub-Saharan Africa. Neglected Tropical Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25471-5_15

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