No vaccines exist to prevent most of these diseases and the few drugs that are available to combat them are expensive and have serious side effects, foundation officials said. "Many of the world's most debilitating illnesses are virtually unheard of in the rich world. But they're a fact of life for millions of people in poor countries," said Tachi Yamada, president of the global health program at the Gates Foundation. UNC will receive $21.3 million to develop effective, inexpensive drugs to treat the late stages of leishmaniasis and African sleeping sickness, or trypanosomiasis. Leishmaniasis causes lesions and disfigurement in its victims, and death when the parasites invade internal organs. African sleeping sickness produces fever and lymph node inflammation, impairment of the brain and nervous system in the late stage and, if not treated, death. The grant supports the work of an international consortium led by Dr. Richard Tidwell, a professor in UNC's Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy and principal investigator for the project.

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