By Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases Department at WHO.
On my first World NTD Day since being appointed Director of WHO’s Global Program for Neglected Tropical Diseases, I feel at once the great honour of my position, at the head, so to speak, of a truly global movement and community, as well as great humility. For me personally, and for the worldwide network of dedicated partners, scientists, programme officers and fieldworkers, all working tirelessly to end the scourge of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), this is a time for reflection – and then for action. The peak COVID-19 years took a terrible toll on many health programmes the world over; routine care suffered, dedicated disease-specific interventions suffered and many people, in some of the world’s poorest communities, saw their threadbare links with healthcare services damaged if not broken altogether.
It is in this context that we must reflect on our strategies as well as the practical steps we need to take now to ensure we are on the right path to hit our 2030 targets.
Some background will perhaps be useful here. WHO’s classification of neglected tropical diseases includes some twenty disparate diseases and disease groups. They are called tropical because they occur mainly in populations who inhabit the tropics of our planet while the neglected refers to the disease itself and its treatment historically, even if it might just as well be used to refer to the people whose lives these diseases have devastated. Some NTDs are caused by parasites, some by bacteria or fungi. They cause a range of debilitating symptoms, including disability, profound social stigma and even death. They do, however, have one element in common, inasmuch as they disproportionately affect the poorest, the most marginalised and the most vulnerable in our global society. These diseases lock their victims, along with their families, into cycles of poverty, taking away their ability to lead full and productive lives...
Full article: Africa.Com -- Headlines / January 25, 2023 / By Editor