World NTD Day 2026 Webinar: Protecting Africa’s NTD Progress in a Time of Global Uncertainty

Brazzaville (Congo) - On 28 January 2026, WHO AFRO convened a webinar to commemorate World NTD Day 2026 under the theme “Protecting Africa’s NTD Progress in the Time of Global Uncertainty”. The session brought together over 140  participants from Ministries of Health, WHO country and regional offices, and partner organizations to reflect on how to safeguard elimination gains amid financing pressures, competing emergencies, and climate and insecurity shocks.

In his opening remarks, Dr Abate Beshah, Medical Officer for Neglected Tropical Diseases at WHO AFRO, welcomed participants and underscored that Africa has powered major NTD gains through expanded preventive chemotherapy, stronger surveillance, improved supply chains, and sustained technical support. He urged countries and partners to protect these achievements by building more resilient, integrated programmes—backed by coordinated action and sustained political and financial commitment—to reach every endemic community on the road to 2030.

In her presentation on “Africa’s NTD Elimination Momentum”, Dr Elizabeth Juma, ESPEN Team Lead emphasized that while NTD elimination is achievable, sustaining progress requires deliberate action to prevent stagnation and resurgence. She noted that disruptions to mass drug administration, surveillance, or supply chains can quickly reverse gains—and that sustaining elimination is far more cost-effective than restarting programmes after a setback. She underscored integration as the pathway to sustainability, through PHC platforms, stronger national supply chains, integrated surveillance and health information systems, and linkages with WASH, One Health and climate adaptation. She also highlighted the need for innovation that enables smarter delivery, including improved diagnostics and data-driven targeting to maximize impact.

This was followed by an informative presentation from Ms Arielle Dolegui, Policy, Advocacy and Resource Mobilization Lead for NTDs at the Gates Foundation and Reaching the Last Mile Fund (RLMF) who highlighted the continued burden of onchocerciasis and LF in the region and the value of partnership and co-investment to accelerate elimination. She outlined RLMF’s approach across pillars spanning optimized implementation, health systems strengthening, innovation, and partnerships, alongside work to advance domestic financing and co-investment in NTD programs, with a co-financing model anticipated in 2027.

The discussion that followed was highly interactive, with participants reinforcing the webinar’s focus on coordinating investment for impact—what to prioritize when resources are scarce, what must change to sustain elimination, and how countries can overcome barriers to greater domestic financing. Key points included calls for practical integration frameworks across PC-NTDs, addressing cross-border implementation challenges particularly for LF and onchocerciasis through stronger joint surveillance, and deepening community partnerships through integrated outreach and collaboration.

The webinar closed with a clear call to action: sustaining NTD progress will depend on country leadership and ownership—making clear, concrete budget asks so NTDs remain visible in decision-making and domestic financing cycles—while doing more with less through integration and smarter use of existing tools. The shared takeaway was to protect gains, strengthen resilient health systems, and mobilize sustainable financing to keep Africa on track for 2030.

The recording of the seminar is available and can be accessed at the following link