The World Health Organization has just unveiled an “remarkable” development in a new report, a breakthrough that potentially heralds a new era in the battle against deadly diseases in developing nations in tropical climates. The WHO said that “unprecedented” progress had been made in eliminating the world’s worst tropical diseases over the past 10 years.

Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, said in a statement that in the last decade, there had been record-breaking progress in tackling diseases like sleeping sickness and elephantiasis. About 1.5 billion in 149 countries are still affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which makes it still quite a big problem, but that figure is much lower than the 1.9 billion in 2010. NTDs cover 18 disorders that disproportionately affect poor people.

WHO and global partners came up with a strategy in 2007 to tackle and control NTDs. This is the fourth report from WHO on neglected tropical diseasess.

“WHO has observed record-breaking progress towards bringing ancient scourges like sleeping sickness and elephantiasis to their knees,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan. “Over the past 10 years, millions of people have been rescued from disability and poverty, thanks to one of the most effective global partnerships in modern public health.”