[Re]Positioning Neglected Tropical Diseases in the New Global Reality

The Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) held the first of a new Quarterly Webinar Series, bringing together over 100 participants from across the WHO African Region and the global NTD community. This series comes at a critical moment. NTD programmes face a rapidly shifting global environment shaped by constrained funding, climate disruption, and multiple humanitarian crises. In this context, repositioning NTDs within resilient, equitable health systems is both urgent and necessary. ESPEN is committed to working with partners and countries to navigate these changes and stay on course toward 2030 elimination goals.

Attendees included country programme stakeholders and key partners such as the Gates Foundation, Unlimit Health, The END Fund, Uniting to Combat NTDs, NTDs Youth Japan, Canadian Network for NTDs, Dimagi, and others. This new platform aims to encourage regular, meaningful dialogue across the NTD ecosystem creating space for shared learning, rapid updates, and collective problem-solving in response to the evolving global health landscape.

Presentations

The ESPEN team delivered a strategic overview of the programmatic updates in the first half of 2025. Notable regional achievements included hitting key elimination milestones, with Niger (January) becoming the first African country to be verified for the elimination of onchocerciasis, and Mauritania (May), Burundi (July), and Senegal (July) validated for the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. The team also shared updates on technical assistance provided to countries, activities of the ESPEN Lab, and the successful launch of the new ESPEN Portal. Progress on the Joint Application Package review was presented alongside the actions taken to mitigate the impact of recent USAID funding cuts, including country-level integration efforts and timely mass drug administration campaigns planned to avoid expiry of medicines. The session concluded with updates on ongoing partnerships and a look ahead to key activities planned for the next quarter, such as the upcoming data and supply chain workshop.

The second presentation, delivered by Ms. Erin Segilia Chase, ESPEN Special Advisor, focused on the urgent need to sustain financing for NTD elimination amidst a rapidly shifting global funding landscape. She highlighted how economic pressures, declining official development assistance (ODA), and rising global crises are already impacting NTD programmes. Ms. Chase emphasized that hard-won progress, driven by country leadership and supported by partners, is at risk without sustained and flexible funding. She stressed that NTDs are preventable and treatable, and that continued support to ESPEN is a smart investment. She called on partners to renew their commitment and explore innovative financing models that combine public and private resources.

Interactive Discussion

The presentations were followed by a lively Q&A session with insightful contributions from country stakeholders and partners. Key questions focused on domestic resource mobilization, drug expiry management, programmatic prioritization, and strategies to address funding gaps. ESPEN reiterated its commitment to support countries and work closely with partners to maintain the momentum toward the 2030 NTD Roadmap Targets.

ESPEN will continue to convene these webinars quarterly to encourage collaboration and collective action. Together, we can protect our gains and accelerate the path to ending NTDs in Africa.