NTDs at a glance

Buruli ulcer

Target: Control
A bacterial skin infection causing severe ulcers and disability. Progress is slow, but global diagnostic capacity is strengthening, with a growing proportion of cases now laboratory-confirmed.

Leishmaniases

Target for visceral form: Elimination as a public health problem / Target for cutaneous form: Control
A parasitic disease with visceral (affecting internal organs) and cutaneous (skin) forms. Visceral cases dropped significantly, but cutaneous cases have risen recently, driven by health system disruptions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Improved reporting in the Region of the Americas revealed progress in case detection and management. .

Scabies and other ectoparasitoses

Target: Control
Skin infestations caused by mites (scabies) or fleas (tungiasis). These conditions are underreported, but some countries have begun including them in national plans and implementing mass drug administration with ivermectin.

Chagas Disease

Target: Elimination as a public health problem
A parasitic infection transmitted by triatomine bugs, which can lead to cardiac and digestive complications. Eight South American countries have interrupted domestic vector transmission nationwide or in defined areas as of December 2025.

Leprosy

Target: Elimination (interruption of transmission)
A chronic bacterial infection affecting nerves, skin, and eyes. In 2024, Jordan became the first country verified for elimination, though 172 717 new cases were detected globally.

Schistosomiasis (bilharzia)

Target: Elimination as a public health problem
A parasitic disease caused by water-borne flatworms, damaging internal organs. The number of people requiring preventive chemotherapy dropped to 253 million in 2024, while treatments increased to over 100 million.

Dengue and chikungunya

Target: Control
Two viral infections transmitted by mosquitoes, causing flu-like illness and sometimes severe complications. Dengue cases have surged, exceeding 14.4 million in 2024, prompting WHO to classify it as a Grade 3 emergency (the Organization’s highest level of emergency) and prequalify a new vaccine. Effort to map chikungunya advanced.

Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis)

Target: Elimination as a public health problem
A parasitic infection transmitted by mosquitoes, leading to severe swelling and disability. Global mass drug administration coverage returned to pre-COVID-19 levels by 2023, reaching a record 74.7% in 2024..

Snakebite envenoming

Target: Control
Poisoning from venomous snakebites, often causing disability or death. Progress includes its designation as a notifiable disease in some countries, the development of national treatment guidelines, and the exploration of potential for local antivenom production.

Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease)

Target: Eradication
A parasitic infection caused by a worm transmitted through contaminated water. In 2024, only 15 human cases were reported globally, though animal infections persist.

Mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses

Target: Control
Chronic fungal or bacterial infections of the skin and tissues. These remain among the most neglected conditions, with limited data on burden and slow progress in public health programming.

Soil-transmitted helminthiases

Target: Elimination as a public health problem
Infections caused by intestinal worms transmitted through contaminated soil. Mass drug administration with albendazole or mebendazole remains one of the world’s largest public health interventions, reaching 502 million people in 2024.

Echinococcosis

Target: Control
A parasitic tapeworm infection affecting the liver and other organs. Reported cases increased in 2023, but underreporting remains a major challenge, with some countries beginning intensified control efforts..

Noma

Target: Control
A severe, disfiguring disease affecting the face, mostly in malnourished children. Added to the NTD list in 2023, it is now being integrated into the road map, though its true burden is largely unknown.

Taeniasis and cysticercosis

Target: Control
Infections caused by tapeworms; cysticercosis can affect the brain. A monitoring and evaluation framework for public health control was launched in 2024.

Foodborne trematodiases

Target: Control
Infections caused by parasitic flatworms acquired through eating contaminated food. Preventive chemotherapy is implemented in only a few countries, and reporting remains minimal.

Onchocerciasis (river blindness)

Target: Elimination (interruption of transmission)
A parasitic eye and skin disease transmitted by blackflies. Several countries are transitioning to post-treatment surveillance after stopping mass drug administration, with over 170 million people treated annually in 2023–2024.

Trachoma

Target: Elimination as a public health problem
An infectious eye disease caused by bacteria, leading to blindness. 12 countries were validated for elimination as a public health problem between 2023–2025, and the number of people requiring interventions fell sharply to 113.8 million in 2024 from 285 million in 2010.

Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)

Target: Gambiense form: elimination (interruption of transmission) / Rhodesiense form: elimination as a public health problem
A parasitic disease transmitted by tsetse flies, fatal without treatment. A total of 583 cases reported in 2024, with nine countries validated as having eliminated it as a public health problem, none has yet achieved interruption of transmission. Some 36 countries remain endemic.

Rabies

Target: Elimination as a public health problem
A fatal viral disease transmitted through animal bites. Data collection has improved, leading to more reported deaths (2,298 in 2024), but underreporting remains a major challenge.

Yaws

Target: Eradication
A chronic bacterial infection affecting skin, bones, and cartilage. It remains endemic in 16 countries as of 2025. 82 historically endemic countries are being assessed for the certification of yaws-free status.