[The concept of neglected disease]

"Neglected disease", "neglected population" and more generally "public health negligence" are emerging concepts being put forward by numerous humanitarian groups. Sleeping sickness provides a typical example to illustrate these concepts. After causing a major epidemic in the 1930s, sleeping sickness had been practically eradicated by the end of decolonization. Because of more urgent priorities, independent national governments relinquished control activities thus allowing the disease to return insidiously. By the beginning of the 1990s the situation was comparable to that prevailing in 1930 without inciting a response commensurate with the extent of the problem. Sleeping sickness is currently not a priority and, more simply, is not given proper attention because it affects only a few people living in regions presenting little economic interest. This point underlines the especially devastating combination of neglected disease and neglected population. As early as 1999 the World Health Organization with the determined support of Medecins Sans Frontieres launched a campaign not only to promote control measures for sleeping sickness at the international level but also to use initiatives in the domain to illustrate the enormous potential for progress against neglected disease. The effects of this campaign are now beginning to be felt.