In 2025, ESPEN Collect supported 44 NTD surveys across 17 countries, generating critical data to guide programme decisions on stopping mass drug administration. The platform helped countries identify millions of people living in districts that have reached treatment thresholds for lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis, reinforcing data-driven progress toward NTD elimination.

WHO AFRO convened the first in-person meeting of the Regional Expert Advisory Group on Urogenital Schistosomiasis (TAG-UGS) in Brazzaville to advance a coordinated, systems-oriented response to female and male genital schistosomiasis. The meeting marked a strategic shift toward integrating UGS within sexual and reproductive health, HIV, cervical cancer, and primary care services—strengthening governance, monitoring, and sustainable financing to make genital schistosomiasis a visible public health priority across the African Region.

To mark World NTD Day 2026, WHO AFRO held an Onchocerciasis Awareness Session and “Walk the Talk” initiative at its Regional Office in Brazzaville, bringing together over 150 staff members. The event combined technical awareness, on-site ivermectin distribution, and a collective walk to promote prevention, staff well-being, and WHO AFRO’s continued commitment to eliminating neglected tropical diseases across the Region.

WHO NTD experts across Africa are taking elimination efforts to the hardest-to-reach communities—along rivers, forests, mountains, and nomadic routes—where disease persists as access fades. Through perseverance, community trust, and data-driven action, their work shows that ending NTDs depends not only on medicines and plans, but on a sustained commitment to reach the last mile.