West Africa states still a key hot spot for neglected tropical diseases

NAIROBI, Kenya - The West African Health Organization (WAHO) has revealed that the West African region is still prone to Neglect Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

In a joint statement during the World Day of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) celebration under the theme "Act now. Act together. Invest in neglected tropical diseases". This is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to ending the suffering caused by NTDs.

The World Health Organization (WHO), estimates that about 1.7 billion people suffer from NTDs, or 1 in 5 people worldwide! Forty-nine African countries bear 40% of the global burden. NTDs, not only disproportionately affect the poorest and marginalized, but can also tp and lock households in poverty. Besides the illnesses they cause, the debilitating deformities and disabilities from NTDs are often associated with stigma and discrimination, with adverse socio-economic consequences.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected, owing to their gender roles and responsibilities, lower financial autonomy (which limits their access to health care), and their experience of a greater impact of stigma and discrimination. Women also suffer from genital schistosomiasis, a disease that is frequently misdiagnosed or underestimated.

West African nations are endemic for at least one of the 20 NTDs identified by the WHO. The commonest NTDs include blinding trachoma, Huruli ulcer, Guinea worm disease, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, rabies, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, and yaws. WHO estimates that about 55 percent of 239 million individuals in the ECOWAS region received treatment for at least one of the five main chemopreventive NTDs in 2020.

While remarkable progress has been achieved, significant challenges remain. These include the scale-up of actionable programs and funded interventions, limited financing, poor access to prevention and care, weak health systems, weak surveillance, limited integration, multisector action, and research. There is a threat of insecticide resistance to vector-borne NTDs while there is little information on other NTDs such as scabies and snake bites.

African leaders have agreed on a common African position and a continental framework for the control and elimination of NTDs by 2030.

Already two ECOWAS countries are among the twelve endemic countries that have so far endorsed the Kigali Declaration on NTDs which was launched in June 2022 and has successfully mobilized more than $1.6 billion for NTDs and over 19 billion tablets towards the contra], elimination, and eradication of NTDs by 2030.

In 2021, ECOWAS Health Ministers in Abuja for Member States agreed to take the necessary measures to scale up surveillance, partnerships, multisectoral response, integrated approaches, and community engagement to improve service quality and coverage in NTD control, elimination, and eradication; to increase priority to NTDs in the national development and public health agenda with increased domestic funding; and to reduce NTD-related inequalities.

Within the framework of the WHO Roadmap on NTDs 2021-2030, the African Continental Framework on Elimination of NTDs, the ECOWAS Vision 2050, the ECOWAS One Health Strategy, and the Accra Declaration of Universal Health Coverage of 2022, WAHO is committed to working with ECOWAS Member States, Development Partners and NGOs to control, eliminate and eradicate NTDs.

With financial support from the African Development Bank and the KfW Bank of the Federal Republic of Germany, WAHO, in separate projects this year, will provide support to improve access to prevention, quality, and affordable care for NTDs in cross-border districts, strengthen integration, cross-border collaboration and community engagements as well as build research capacity in NTDs. WAHO will continue to coordinate the multisectoral response in the region.

GAROWE ONLINE