New Delhi: World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day is celebrated on January 30 to raise awareness and mobilise action for a group of diseases that continue to plague 1.5 billion people globally, including the world's most vulnerable communities.
The theme for 2025 is 'Unite. Act. Eliminate', which emphasises what is needed to win the battle against these diseases, through holistic investment, technical coordination and sustained commitment.
Understanding NTDs
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) comprise 21 or more conditions related to viruses, bacteria, protozoa, parasitic worms, fungi, and toxins. They thrive in areas with unsafe water, low sanitation, and inadequate access to healthcare, affecting marginalised populations. The major NTDs include African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), onchocerciasis (river blindness), and dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease), as well as soil-transmitted helminthiases (such as roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm), leprosy, Buruli ulcer, and trachoma.
The Global Impact
NTDs cause a socio-economic burden far beyond the immediate health impacts. The diseases lead to disabilities, discrimination, stigma, and social exclusion, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty and affects economic development. NTDs may target populations almost unseen, hence, this category of diseases has traditionally received little attention and funding, often overshadowed by other global health priorities.
Progress Towards Achievements
Since the historic London Declaration in 2012, in which partners unified across sectors to fight against these diseases, there has been great progress.
Disease Elimination: As of December 2024, in 54 countries at least one NTD has been eliminated. Among these seven were confirmed in 2024.
Treatment Delivery: In 2023, over 860 million people received treatment for NTDs through mass drug administration and individual disease management efforts.
Regional Success: Between 2010 and 2022, the number of individuals requiring interventions against NTDs decreased by 54 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Challenges Ahead
Despite these advancements, significant challenges persist like funding gaps, political commitment, healthcare infrastructure, data limitations.
Path Forward
The World Health Organization (WHO) roadmap for the period 2021–2030 and the 2022 Kigali Declaration on NTDs have set clear targets for the control, elimination, and eradication of these diseases. For successful delivery of these targets, we must take coordinated action, engaging governments, health workers, cooperation agencies, and community organisations, promote community engagement that empowers individuals and communities to actively partake in health actions, thus guaranteeing that the outcomes are sustainable; and remain open to investing in research to develop new tools, diagnostics, and treatments that will improve disease management and prevention.
A Call to Action
On this World NTD Day, the global community is called upon to unify, work together, and banish NTDs forevermore; through country commitment, mobilisation of resources, technical guidance, and strengthening solidarity, we are at a very good position to deliver treatments, reduce transmission, manage disabilities, and eliminate stigma associated with these diseases. Together, the time to act is now, as actions taken today will be investments in a more just and healthier future for all.
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