The global burden of disease study 2013: What does it mean for the NTDs?

[...]other major trends noted in GBD 2013 include a 71% reduction in the number of cases of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) infection. Because such cases were not included in the current estimates, this may have led to an underestimation of the burden of cysticercosis by the GBD 2013. [...]this means that part of the disability incurred by other neurological and mental health disorders caused by NCC increases the DALYs of these diseases, making other disorders look less important. [...]terms such as prevalence or cases are not always clearly defined in GBD models for individual diseases, which can create some confusion when interpreting the meaning of the results. [...]we have not seen meaningful declines in diseases such as hookworm infection, trichuriasis, and schistosomiasis, while for dengue, leishmaniasis, and foodborne trematodiases, we have seen substantial increases [3]. [...]we need to consider adopting public health policies to address these trends and adapt our current approaches to specifically guide better disease surveillance, improved water quality and sanitation, affordable diagnostic tests, access to healthcare and medications, and further investments in new preventive and disease-control technologies.