Countries, firms commit to fight neglected tropical diseases

The Leading global organisations and countries have announced new commitments to help strengthen efforts to end neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). 

The commitments made by endemic countries, donors, and private sector partners, are in response to a global call for urgent investment to control, eliminate and eradicate NTDs by 2030.

The commitments announced yesterday in Ghana, which includes funding and drug donations, indicate that GSK, and Anesvad Foundation will help to accelerate efforts to control and eliminate NTDs in affected countries. 

They also endorsed the Kigali Declaration on NTDs – a high-level, political declaration on mobilising political will, community commitment, resources and action, and securing commitments needed to end suffering caused by NTDs.

The President of Ghana,  Mr Nana Akufo-Addo, said his country will champion the drive to eliminate NTDs, not only in Ghana, but across Africa.

“In Ghana, we are proud to be the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to have eliminated trachoma. We’ve also eliminated Guinea worm disease from our land. Further, we are on the brink of eliminating sleeping sickness and leprosy.  Investing in NTD elimination programmes creates a ripple effect in society,” he said.

 He added: “It leads to better education, health and employment outcomes. It transforms lives and our communities. It helps reduce gender inequity and stigma. That is why I am proud to endorse the Kigali Declaration on NTDs.”’

“An Africa free from NTDs is possible. Let us act now, and act together. Ghana is 100% Committed to ending neglected tropical diseases,’’  Mr Nana said.

NTDs is an umbrella term used to describe a group of communicable diseases that affect over 1.7 billion people. 

The Kigali Declaration on NTDs was launched at the Kigali Summit on Malaria and NTDs; Malawi, Togo, Vanuatu and Saudi Arabia succeeded in eliminating trachoma, protecting tens of millions of people from the world’s leading cause of blindness; Benin, Uganda, Rwanda, and Equatorial Guinea were able to eliminate sleeping sickness, a fatal illness caused by tsetse flies. Now, 47 countries have eliminated at least one NTD.

Mr Thomas Breuer, Chief Global Health Officer at GSK, said NTDs cause immeasurable suffering and debilitate, disfigure and can be fatal and that they are also a major barrier to economic development.

Commitments
“I am delighted that GSK is further extending its donation commitment for soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) to 2030, a disease which affects 1.5 billion people per year, predominantly from the most underserved communities. We will donate up to 100 million doses for STH per year from 2026 to 2030. At GSK, we remain 100% committed to ending NTDs in alignment with the WHO road map,” he said.

Mr Iñigo Lasa, Director General, Anesvad Foundation, said Anesvad Foundation has been working to reduce NTDs on a global scale since 1968.

We are happy to announce that we have signed the Kigali Declaration on NTDs to mobilise €34m (approximately Shs 135.3 billion) until 2026 to reduce the burden of skin-NTDs in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

The United States government appropriated $114.5 million for fiscal year 2023 to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to help control and eliminate five of the most burdensome NTDs. USAID’s support for NTDs focuses on the scale-up of efficient, integrated preventive chemotherapy as well as support for operational research, diagnostic research and development, and sustainability.

With Ghana signing the Kigali Declaration on NTDs, the total number of endemic country signatories is 12. This includes signatories from June 2022 namely Botswana, Ethiopia, Nigeria,  Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
The Declaration has garnered 61 signatories since its launch in June, mobilising over $1.6 billion (Shs 6.3 trillion) for NTDs and over 19 billion tablets or units of medicine.