ide ministries of health in endemic countries to deliver quality-assured medicines, and provide people with care and long-term management.
In 2012, partners endorsed a WHO NTD Roadmap, committing additional support and resources to eliminating 10 of the most common NTDs.
Key achievements include:1 billion people treated for at least one neglected tropical disease in 2015 alone; 556 million people received preventive treatment for lymphatic filariasis also known as Elephantiasis.
More than 114 million people received treatment for onchocerciasis (river blindness: 62 per cent of those requiring it; only 25 human cases of guinea worm disease were reported in 2016, putting eradication within reach.
Cases of human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) have been reduced from 37,000 new cases in 1999 to well under 3,000 cases in 2015, the report indicated.
Trachoma, which is seen as the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, has been eliminated as a public health problem in Oman, Morocco and Mexico.
More than 185 000 trachoma patients had surgery for trichiasis worldwide and more than 56 million people received antibiotics in 2015 alone;
According to the report, Visceral leishmaniasis: in 2015 the target for elimination was achieved in 82 per cent of sub-districts in India, 97 percent of sub-districts in Bangladesh, and in 100 percent of districts in Nepal.
Only 12 reported human deaths were attributable to rabies in the Region of the Americas in 2015, bringing the area close to its target of eliminating rabies in humans by 2015.
However, the report has highlighted the need to further scale up action in other areas.
Meeting global targets for water and sanitation will be key. WHO estimates that 2.4 billion people still lack basic sanitation facilities such as toilets and latrines, while more than 660 million continue to drink water from “unimproved” sources, such as surface water.
Dr Chan explained that, global concern about the recent outbreaks of Zika virus disease, and its associated complications, has re-energized efforts to improve vector control.
“In May this year, the World Health Assembly will review proposals for a new Global vector control response”, she added.
She said there were also brighter prospects to prioritize cross-sectoral collaboration to promote veterinary public health.
“Further gains in the fight against neglected tropical diseases will depend on wider progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals,” Dr Dirk Engels, Director of the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, added.