A Constitutional Amendment for Deworming 英文参考文献.docVIP

Editorial AConstitutionalAmendmentforDeworming PeterJ.Hotez1,2 * 1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America, 2Sabin Vaccine Institute,Washington,D.C.,UnitedStatesofAmerica ‘‘Caneksaid:everyhumanbeing,bybeing ahuman,hasattributesthatareexpressions of his essence and voices that reveal his origin and condition. The attribute of the ocean is pride; the attribute of the sun is authority; the attribute of a human is dignity.’’ health, poverty, and overall deprivation [4,7].InBolivia,Ecuador,andVenezuela, the most common NTDs are the three majorintestinalhelminthinfections,trich- uriasis,ascariasis,andhookworminfection [4,8].ShowninTable1arethenumberof cases and prevalence of thesehelminthia- ses,withupto15%ofBolivia’spopulation infected, 38% of Ecuador’s population, and 35% of Venezuela’s population [8]. What does it mean that millions of minthic drug such as albendazole or mebendazole is sufficient [13,14]. These drugsareparticularlyeffectivefortreating ascaris and trichuris worm infections [14,15] and can be administered for as little as US$0.03 per person [16,17]. For me it is shocking to think that we could allow vulnerable children and women to livewithchronicintestinalhelminthinfec- tions when such NTDs can be controlled throughmassdrugadministrationforjust a few pennies per individual. Even if we consider all of the roughly 50 million people living in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela,thecostsofannualdeworming in national programs of control could be E.AbreuGo′mez,1969[1] In February 2009, The Washington Post reportedthatthreeSouthAmericancoun- tries, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, have either launched or completed ambi- tiouseffortstorewritetheirconstitutionsin order to expand the social and economic rightsguaranteedtoitscitizens[2].Forthe most part these new charters are consid- ered populist documents, reflecting the leanings of newly elected leftist regimes