Unprecedented progress against NTDs reported by WHO
Ten years ago, a group of global partners agreed to treat and stop neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Flash forward to the present day, and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced progress against these diseases that lead to blindness, elephantiasis and sleeping sickness to some of the poorest populations in the world.
The WHO detailed the achievements in a new report, “Integrating neglected tropical diseases in global health and development”, which also measures outcomes from the organization’s 2012 NTD roadmap, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
“WHO has observed record-breaking progress towards bringing ancient scourges like sleeping sickness and elephantiasis to their knees,” said WHO Director-General, Margaret Chan, MD, MPH, in a press release accompanying the report.
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“Over the past 10 years, millions of people have been rescued from disability and poverty, thanks to one of the most effective global partnerships in modern public health.”
The report mentions that, in 2015, 1 billion people in the world were treated for at least one NTD. Furthermore, 556 million people received preventive treatment for lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), while over 144 million received treatment for onchocerciasis (river blindness). A dramatic reduction in the number of sleeping sickness cases was also recorded, from 37,000 in 1999 to fewer than 3,000 in 2015.
Trachoma, the leading cause of blindness, was eliminated as a public health problem in Mexico, Morocco and Oman.
As the global partners consider the victories in the face of NTDs, they must also set new goals for 2020 and 2030, focusing on animal-human interactions, vector-born diseases (like Zika) and a One Health approach to monitoring NTDs, according to the report.
These efforts belong to the WHO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Further gains in the fight against neglected tropical diseases will depend on wider progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Dirk Engels, MD, director of the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases.
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