Over one billion people are afflicted by one or more of our targeted conditions in the regions of Africa, Central America, South America, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Children are disproportionately affected.


All of these conditions can be found in low-income populations. They impair or permanently disable millions of people every year, often making it difficult to be productive in school, to marry, and to earn a living. Many of these conditions cause life-long physical pain and social stigmatization.



Yearly, there are over 600,000 cases of congenital syphilis that result in 200,000 fetal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths.


There are 240 million cases of malaria each year with 400,000 deaths. 90% of all cases are falciparum malaria.


Female genital schistosomiasis affects at least 40 million girls and women, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.


South Asia has 23 million people with lymphatic filariasis, and there are 40 million cases globally.


Neural tube defects, occurring in up to 6 per 1000 births, can be minimized by taking folic acid before and during early pregnancy.


Africa has 21 million people with onchocerciasis, causing disfiguring skin conditions and blindness.


Preventive chemotherapy for soil-transmitted helminths is needed right now by 550 million children worldwide.


40 million people are estimated to be suffering from active trachoma.


Giving azithromycin to infants in sub-Saharan Africa can reduce under-five mortality by nearly 75%.


Each year, between 250,000 and 500,000 children with vitamin A deficiency become blind; half of them die within 12 months of losing their sight.


Photo permissions:

Congenital syphilis. Photo courtesy Gado Images.

Falciprum malaria. Photo courtesy Riccardo Lennart Niels Mayer.

Female genital schistosomiasis. Photo courtesy Cavallini James.

Lymphatic filariasis. Photo courtesy Sudesh Kumar.

Neural tube defects. Photo courtesy BSIP Scientific and Medical Images.

Onchocerciasis. Photo courtesy Julian Lott.

Soil-transmitted helminths. Photo courtesy Dylan Garcia.

Trachoma. Photo courtesy DMA Alamy.

Under-five mortality prevention. Photo courtesy Heidi Markley.

Vitamin A blindness. Photo courtesy Jenny Matthews.