On World Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Day marked on January 30th, WHO released a new progress report, entitled “Global report on neglected tropical diseases 2023” highlighting the progress and challenges in delivering NTD care worldwide, against a backdrop of COVID-19-related disruptions.
NTDs continue to disproportionately affect the poorest members of the global community, primarily in areas where water safety, sanitation and access to health care are inadequate.
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.
The new progress 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.
