You might have thought that after the deaths of three babies this week at Belfast's Royal Jubilee Hospital due to hygiene shortcomings the government might be prepared to help out. Instead international Development Minister Stephen O'Brien announces today that funding for Neglected Tropical Diseases is to increase from £50 million to £245 million between 2011 and 2015.
Your money will be spent fighting four diseases - lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), onchocerciasis (river blindness), schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm). You'll not be surprised to learn that the Northern Ireland infection rates for these particular afflictions are somewhat minimal. Nice timing.
