Brief outline

Neglected tropical diseases at a glance

• Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of 21+ conditions that are widespread in the world’s poorest regions, where water safety, sanitation, and access to health care are inadequate or suboptimal.
• Caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, protozoa, parasitic worms, fungi and toxins, NTDs affect approximately 1 billion people globally and are responsible for thousands of preventable deaths every year. As of end 2024, the population requiring interventions for at least one NTD is estimated at 1.4 billion.
• These diseases are called “neglected” because they have historically ranked very low on the global health agenda, if they have appeared at all, receiving little attention and funding.
• NTDs cost developing communities the equivalent of billions of dollars every year in direct health costs, loss of productivity and reduced socioeconomic and educational attainment.
• They are also responsible for other consequences such as chronic morbidity, disability, stigmatization, social exclusion, discrimination and bias, and place considerable financial strains on patients and their families.
• NTDs can be prevented, controlled and eliminated. As of December 2025, 58 countries have succeeded in eliminating at least one NTD, more than halfway towards reaching WHO’s goal of 100 countries having eliminated at least one NTD by 2030. Several countries have eliminated 2, 3 or 4 NTDs. Globally, 84 elimination processes have been successfully completed and acknowledged by WHO. In 2025, 9 countries eliminated an NTD.
• In 2024 alone, over 880 million people received treatment for NTDs through mass drug administration or individual disease management. However, gaps remain, and while drug treatments are available for many NTDs, often they do not reach those who need them most.
• Interventions against NTDs are supported by one of the largest medicine donation programmes globally: currently, 19 different types of medicines are donated by 12 manufacturers to support NTD interventions. Between 2011 and 2025, over 31 billion tablets and vials have been delivered to countries; 1.5 billion were donated and delivered for treatments carried out in 2024 alone.
• NTD programmes were deprioritized in many countries during COVID-19, resulting in massive disruptions to treatment and care. Adaptation and innovation are helping countries to resume these programmes, complemented by integrated and collaborative interventions.
• In 2020, WHO published the NTD road map for 2021–2030, setting out a comprehensive blueprint to ensure that NTDs are controlled, eliminated or eradicated by 2030. However, as a result of reduced investment and other challenges, those targets, which align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, risk not being achieved. 
• In 2026, WHO will conduct a mid-term evaluation of the road map. Such exercise aims to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and equity of progress made toward the 2030 targets set in this document. The evaluation will assess achievements and identify bottlenecks in order to inform evidence-based decision-making and guide strategic adjustments until the end of the decade.
• Such old and new challenges hampering NTD programmes on a global scale include a changing funding landscape; irregular country ownership; dwindling capacities and expertise; uneven commitment across NTDs and countries; difficulties in generating and collecting data; gaps in knowledge, medicines, diagnostics, operational tools and processes, in addition to population displacement, migrations and conflicts. Climate change has also emerged as a threat, especially with regard to vector-borne diseases. The multidimensional burden of NTDs – not just health, but also economic, societal and psychological makes addressing their burden even more complex.
• WHO is addressing the above challenges through a series of initiatives that have already been initiated and will further grow in 2026. These include estimating the cost of interventions required to achieve the 2030 targets, for both planning and resource mobilization purposes; expanding the arsenal of online tools for capacity development; strengthening monitoring & evaluation of NTD interventions, data systems and supply chains of NTD medicines and other health products; identifying the main programmatic gaps through the development of a Research & Development blueprint for NTDs, and advocating for targeted action to fill such gaps; finally, investigating the impact of climate change and adapting disease control interventions accordingly.
• On World NTD Day 2026, WHO is calling on everyone, including leaders and communities, to Unite, to Act, and to Eliminate neglected tropical diseases.