https://hq_who_departmentofcommunications.cmail19.com/t/d-e-wthdihy-hldd...
Geneva, 4 November 2026 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported major global progress against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), with 63 countries having eliminated at least one NTD by June 2026, up from 42 at the end of 2020.
WHO’s Global report on neglected tropical diseases 2026, a midterm assessment of the 2021–2030 NTD road map, shows that more countries are eliminating NTDs and fewer people need treatment. Findings reveal that the number of people requiring interventions fell to 1.41 billion in 2024, down 36% since 2010 and 19% since 2020. Cases of sleeping sickness have dropped by 98% since 1999, while Guinea worm disease fell to a record low of just 10 human cases in 2025.
“Elimination of neglected tropical diseases is one of the standout success stories of global health," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “However, the hard-won gains we have made could easily be lost, so countries and partners must step up, not step back, by increasing domestic financing, sustaining external support and integrating NTD services into primary health care. The goal is not only to eliminate diseases, but to free communities from disability, disfigurement, death and generational poverty.”
Advances in science offer new tools to prevent and treat NTDs, such as WHO-prequalified child-friendly arpraziquantel for schistosomiasis, generic miltefosine for leishmaniasis and a dengue vaccine. Two chikungunya vaccines and new medicines for onchocerciasis and human African trypanosomiasis have also received regulatory approval...
COMMENT (NPW): The outcome for people living with neglected tropical diseases depends not only on the existence of effective interventions, but on their accessibility and on the healthcare information and knowledge available to the general public and health workers.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org