Editorial

Thomas UnnaschDepartment of Global Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USAPeople living in tropical regions account for a large percentage of the world’s population, and residents of the tropics face many challenges to their health. Populations living in tropical regions must deal with most of the same diseases that confront people inhabiting temperate regions, but face many other health problems as well. For example, it is estimated that the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including the parasitic helminths and apicoplast parasites, afflict roughly 40% of the world’s population, almost all of whom reside in tropical climates.