Towards elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases: Strengthening partnerships, fostering collaboration, and promoting country ownership
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) represent a significant global health burden, disproportionately affecting over a billion people in some of the world's most impoverished communities. These diseases include a range of parasitic, viral, and bacterial infections, such as dengue, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and trachoma.
Severe disabilities and disfigurements associated with NTDs impose a significant burden on countries, limiting their citizens' ability to reach their full potential.
The impact of NTDs goes beyond health, deterring economic growth and resulting in billions of United States dollars in lost productivity annually. Among the over 1.6 billion people worldwide who require interventions against NTDs each year, a significant proportion live in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. However, the geographical spread of NTDs is shifting due to climate change. Warmer temperatures and altered rainfall patterns are expanding the range of disease vectors, complicating elimination efforts against vector-borne NTDs including dengue, HAT, LF, leishmaniasis and onchocerciasis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) road map for NTDs: 2021 – 2030, Ending the Neglect to Attain the Sustainable Development Goals, outlines an ambitious global strategy to combat NTDs and achieve significant health equity by 2030. It focuses on integrated, sustainable, and measurable interventions to reduce the burden of NTDs on affected communities. The 2030 targets, outlined in the road map aim for the elimination of at least one NTD in 100 countries, with a 90% reduction in the number of people requiring interventions. Achieving these road map targets demand multi-faceted cross-sectoral approach that addresses challenges such as limited capacity for adopting innovative technologies, inadequate health research and innovation infrastructure, climate change, and insufficient funding.