Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) published data showing that more than one billion people were treated in 2019 for at least one of the five neglected tropical diseases1 (NTDs) amenable to prevention, control and elimination through large-scale preventive treatment campaigns
This is the fifth successive year the global NTD community has crossed the billion.
“This record achievement is not about numbers, but the work of volunteers and health-care workers who have contributed to improving the lives of people affected by NTDs, who mostly live in rural and marginalized areas,” said Dr Mwelecele Ntuli Malecela, Director, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “It is the result of robust collaboration with health ministries, local governments, communities, implementing partners, industry and stakeholders, without whose support this would not have happened.”
WHO currently focuses on 20 diseases and conditions2 the public-health burden of which is often overlooked by the relevant authorities or decision-making bodies, which contributes to their neglect.
Conservative estimates indicate that NTDs contribute to nearly 19 million disability-adjusted life years, that is, about 1% of the global burden of disease. It is estimated that more than 1.7 billion people require treatment for at least one NTD, every year. The bulk of these treatments involved the delivery of donated medicines, coordinated by WHO in collaboration with the ministries of health of several countries endemic for NTDs. The medicines are then made accessible to communities through large-scale treatment programmes (or mass drug administration) to eligible populations or entire communities who are at risk of, or affected by, these diseases of poverty.
Global implementation of NTD programmes for more than a decade has brought some of these diseases within reach of elimination. Since 2008, WHO has acknowledged 42 countries and territories formerly endemic for NTDs as having attained one of the targets
for NTDs, including control, elimination as a public health problem, elimination of transmission and global eradication. Although substantial progress has been made since the publication of WHO’s first road map in 2012, many of the targets for
2020 will not be met.
The NTD road map for 2021–2030
A new road map for 2021–2030 proposes actions to drive progress towards a world free of NTDs and provides the framework through which the global NTD community will contribute to attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals over the next decade. The road map is presently under consideration by the 73rd World Health Assembly.
Impact of COVID-19 on NTDs
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the implementation of essential health services for NTDs, including supply chains for NTD health products. Measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 have been implemented in response to these challenges.
The Index for Neglected Tropical Diseases
To advocate for and secure high-level political commitment for NTDs, WHO has launched an NTD coverage index for comparative monitoring of the progress of NTD programmes. This index is the geometric mean of the reported coverage rates for the five diseases amenable to preventive treatment. The method emphasizes equity and integrated delivery for all five diseases. It also offers valuable insights into the state of progress towards Universal Health Coverage, helping to monitor equity, for example by making sure that the least well-off are prioritized every step of the way.
The index is included in the scorecard of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, which is provided to heads of state and government and their ministries to ensure transparency, accountability and action on malaria control and other public health priorities.
The WHO dashboard
The NTD website now hosts an interactive progress dashboard that captures progress against NTDs that are targeted for eradication or elimination. The information is regularly updated.
Donated NTD medicines
Medicines donated mainly by pharmaceutical companies through WHO are a pillar in the fight against NTDs. Eleven pharmaceutical companies have been donating medicines over several decades, covering a significant proportion of the cost of interventions against NTD. These donations have attracted other donors to support endemic countries.
In 2019 alone, a total of 2.7 billion tablets of medicines was delivered3, of which 2.1 billion (78% of the total global donation) was managed by WHO.
1 Lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, schistosomiasis and trachoma.
2 Buruli ulcer; Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis); dengue and chikungunya; dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease); echinococcosis; foodborne trematodiases; human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness); leishmaniasis (cutaneous and visceral); leprosy (Hansen’s disease); lymphatic filariasis; mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses; onchocerciasis (river blindness); rabies; scabies and other ectoparasitoses; schistosomiasis; soil-transmitted helminthiases; snakebite envenoming; taeniasis and cysticercosis; trachoma; yaws and other endemic treponematoses.
3 For some diseases, more than one tablet is needed according to the height and age of the individual.