Neglected tropical diseases are a diverse group of 20 conditions mainly prevalent in tropical areas, where they mostly affect impoverished communities and disproportionately affect women and children.

They are caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins. These diseases are often related to environmental conditions and cause devastating health, social and economic consequences. When they aren’t deadly, they very often cause life-long social stigma and consequent economic hardship.

These neglected tropical diseases include: Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue and chikungunya, dracunculiasis, echinococcosis, foodborne trematodiases, human African trypanosomiasis leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses, onchocerciasis, rabies, scabies and other ectoparasitoses, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, snakebite envenoming, taeniasis/cysticercosis, trachoma, and yaws.

Many of them are vector-borne, have animal reservoirs and are associated with complex life cycles. All these factors make their public-health control challenging.

Although as many as 179 countries and territories reported at least one case of NTDs in 2021, 16 countries accounted for 80% of the global NTD burden. Around 1.65 billion people were estimated to require treatment for at least one NTD, globally.

Around the world, millions of people have been liberated from the burden of neglected tropical diseases, which keep people trapped in cycles of poverty and stigma.

The report shows that the number of people requiring NTD interventions fell by 80 million between 2020 and 2021, and eight countries were certified or validated as having eliminated one NTD in 2022 alone. As of December 2022, 47 countries had eliminated at least one NTD and more countries were in the process of achieving this target.

Accomplishments made in 2021-2022 build on a decade of significant progress. In 2021, 25% fewer people required interventions against NTDs than in 2010, and more than one billion people were treated for NTDs each year between 2016 and 2019 through mass treatment interventions.

“Around the world, millions of people have been liberated from the burden of neglected tropical diseases, which keep people trapped in cycles of poverty and stigma,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

He continued: “But as this progress report shows, we still have a lot of work to do. The good news is, we have the tools and the know-how not just to save lives and prevent suffering, but to free entire communities and countries of these diseases. It is time to act now, act together, and invest in NTDs.”

The report also notes the significant impact of COVID-19 had on community-based interventions and on access to health facilities, as well as on supply chains for healthcare products. This led to 34% fewer people receiving treatment for NTDs between 2019 and 2020, even if a general resumption of activities enabled a 11% increase in recovery in 2021, when approximately 900 million people were treated.

WHO estimates that over 1.7 billion of the world’s population should be targeted by prevention and treatment activities for at least one of these diseases, every year.

In addition to significant mortality and morbidity - approximately 200,000 deaths and 19 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs) lost annually, NTDs cost developing communities the equivalent of billions of United States dollars each year in direct health costs, loss of productivity and reduced socioeconomic and educational attainment. They are also responsible for other consequences such as disability, stigmatization, social exclusion and discrimination and place considerable financial strain on patients and their families.

Credit: World Health Organization