Giving Compass' Take:

· Diana Duong explains that low-income countries still face at least five neglected tropical diseases at a time that limit the ability to attend school.  

· How are these diseases impacting other issue areas in need of progress? What role can you play in advancing health and education? 

· Read more about improving access to education around the world.


When people think of obstacles that impact children’s education, many consider the immediate challenges: cost of supplies, tuition, uniforms, overcrowded schools, and overburdened teachers, maybe even the physical distance between homes and schools in underserved areas.

But these interferences pale in comparison to the barriers presented to sick children living in vulnerable populations.

Sometimes forgotten are the devastating diseases that prevent children from accessing school at all.

As if vicious health effects and stigma weren’t punishing enough for a child, lack of access to quality education pushes them further behind their peers, limiting their opportunities for economic success later in life, which in turn reinforces the cycle of poverty — driving home the overarching and debilitating impact disease can have on children.

Many of the world's NTDs have all but disappeared in the developed world due to sanitation and hygiene standards. However, 100% of the world's low-income countries are still affected by at least five NTDs at a time.

Read the full article about improving access to education by Diana Duong at Global Citizen.