Dengue fever, chikungunya, leprosy... the World Health Organization (WHO) called on Monday for more investment in the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), from which more than 1.6 billion people suffer, pathologies neglected because they affect only the poorest countries in the world.
NTDs are prevalent in areas where safe water, sanitation and access to health care are poor.
"
These diseases are neglected because they are almost absent from the global health agenda
," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a message released on World NTD Day.
"
Little funds are devoted to them and they come with stigma and
", he added.
In 2021, around 1.65 billion people needed treatment for at least one of these NTDs, 80 million fewer than in 2020. The number of people needing treatment fell over the last decade.
They were still 2.19 billion in 2010, indicated the WHO in a new report.
But 16 countries account for 80% of the global NTD burden.
They include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
Despite the difficulties in combating these diseases, 47 countries had eliminated at least one of them by the end of 2022. And eight of these countries had eliminated one in the last year alone.
“
Millions of people around the world have been freed from the burden of neglected tropical diseases
,” said Dr Tedros, stressing that much still remains to be done.
"
The good news is that we have the tools and the know-how to not only save lives and prevent suffering, but also to free communities and entire countries from these diseases
," he said. .
” READ ALSO –
“We can no longer neglect tropical parasitic diseases”
"
It's time to act
"
NTDs are a diverse group of 20 conditions that occur mainly in tropical areas, where they affect poorer communities.
These diseases, such as Chagas disease, dengue fever, chikungunya and leprosy, are caused by different pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins).
Their epidemiology is complex and often linked to environmental conditions.
Many of them are transmitted by vectors, come from animal reservoirs and are associated with "
complex life cycles
", according to the WHO.
All these factors make the fight against these diseases difficult in terms of public health.
In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic and the evolution in the field of financing, make the fight against NTDs difficult.
"
It is time to act now, to act together and invest in NTDs
,” Dr Tedros asked.
” READ ALSO –
The tiger mosquito responsible for a first case of autochthonous arbovirosis in New Aquitaine
According to the director of the NTD department at the WHO, Dr. Socé Fall, these diseases are neglected by the international community because they do not affect developed countries.
By way of comparison, he pointed out that the fight against monkey pox (Mpox) only began when the disease was detected in wealthy countries last year.
However, it had been present for many years in African countries.
"
We are far
" from having reached the level of investment needed to fight NTDs, Dr. Fall pointed out last Friday.
“
Now is the time to have more equity.
We must protect people wherever they are, and whatever their social condition,
” he insisted.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/PCE7NMB26ZDVRIQX2R26JSNH6A.jpg)
