Past events
To mark World NTD Day 2026, ESPEN will convene a regional webinar under the theme “Protecting Africa’s NTD Progress in a Time of Global Uncertainty.” The session will bring together countries, partners, and stakeholders to reflect on progress, share lessons learnt, and discuss priorities for sustaining NTD elimination efforts amid funding constraints and competing global challenges. Aligned with the global call to Unite, Act, Eliminate, the webinar will highlight the importance of coordinated action and investment to protect hard-won gains and accelerate progress toward the 2030 targets.
This workshop brought together countries, WHO teams, and partners to strengthen data quality, improve the integration of PC-NTD information into national health systems, and enhance forecasting and supply chain planning. Through practical sessions and shared country experiences, participants advanced more efficient, coordinated, and sustainable M&E systems to support progress toward PC-NTD elimination.
ESPEN convened the 10th meeting of the Regional Programme Advisory Group (RPAG) for Preventive Chemotherapy, bringing together regional and global experts to review progress, assess technical priorities, and provide strategic guidance for PC-NTD programmes in the WHO African Region. The meeting focused on tracking progress towards elimination targets, addressing emerging programmatic and operational challenges, and strengthening evidence-based decision-making to support countries in accelerating and sustaining gains toward the 2030 NTD Roadmap goals.
ESPEN’s second Quarterly Stakeholder Webinar brought together 139 participants to explore how digitizing NTD delivery can strengthen health systems. The session highlighted the move from paper-based processes to integrated digital solutions, showcasing practical examples such as digital payments for NTD campaigns and Madagascar’s use of CommCare and mobile money. Discussions emphasized that while the technology is largely in place, successful scale-up depends on country ownership, strong legal and data-governance frameworks, and coordinated multi-sector engagement.
ESPEN launched its Quarterly Webinar Series with a high-level session on repositioning neglected tropical diseases in a challenging global context of funding constraints and competing crises. With over 100 participants, the webinar highlighted recent elimination milestones and shared strategic updates on ESPEN’s technical support, partnerships, and the launch of the new ESPEN Portal. Discussions stressed the importance of sustained commitment, stronger health-system integration, and innovative financing to stay on track toward the 2030 targets.
