In a powerful demonstration of country-driven leadership and cross-border solidarity, Ministry of Health representatives from various African countries pledged to intensify action to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
At a side event held on the margins of the 78th World Health Assembly on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, under the leadership of the African Union Commission, several countries signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis (VL), and endorsed a Call for Action to promote cross-border collaboration and accelerate progress towards elimination targets set for NTDs.
Eliminating visceral leishmaniasis in eastern Africa
With this MoU, the ministers or their representatives of Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan agreed to invest resources, develop effective policies and collaborate closely to achieve the ambitious targets outlined in the VL strategic framework launched in June 2024. Additional eastern African countries are expected to sign the MoU in the near future.
"As the global community reaches the half-way point towards the road map targets and almost one year after we launched a strategic framework for the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis, the critical role of country-led efforts and cross-border collaboration in accelerating elimination cannot be over emphasized," said Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Director of the WHO Global Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme in his opening remarks.
Of all the NTDs, VL is among the deadliest and most outbreak-prone diseases and is endemic in all six WHO regions, with 74% of its global burden in the eastern African epidemiological subregion. Half of the cases occur in children aged under 15 years. Also known as kala-azar, VL is a lethal parasitic disease that causes fever, weight loss, spleen and liver enlargement, and — if untreated — death.
Accelerating elimination of NTDs through cross-border collaboration
Like VL, many NTDs are vector-borne or waterborne, making them easily transmissible across borders. The movement of people and animals further facilitates this spread, posing a barrier to national elimination goals and progress towards road map targets .
This was the focus of the second significant moment of the event in which a Call for Action on NTD cross-border collaboration was issued by the Ministers of Health of Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. They urged countries to share experiences in developing collaboration agreements and workplans and take collective action.
To address this challenge, Member States are encouraged to coordinate efforts and endorse joint MoUs to enable synchronized interventions, surveillance and data-sharing across borders. Regional and multilateral agencies, along with international development partners, should advocate for increased financing, provide technical support and invest in data systems and innovation to strengthen cross-border initiatives towards elimination of all NTDs.
Climate change adds urgency, as warming temperatures and extreme weather events create favourable conditions for the spread and re-emergence of diseases.
Strong cross-border coordination is therefore critical — not only to interrupt transmission in endemic areas but also to maintain elimination through effective post-elimination surveillance.
"We know that diseases do not stop at borders — and neither should our response. More than 600 million people on our continent remain at risk of at least one of the NTDs," said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC in a statement read by Dr Landry Tsague Dongmo, Africa CDC's Director Center for Primary Health Care. "Africa CDC has been working to enhance cross-border surveillance platforms through the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response framework, in close collaboration with WHO," he added.
Towards an NTD-free world
This crucial side event underscored that while individual country successes are vital, the interconnected nature of NTD transmission necessitates robust cross-border approaches, particularly in the face of challenges like climate change. The commitment of east African nations to tackle VL head-on through unified action sets a compelling precedent for accelerating the elimination of other devastating NTDs.
These efforts build on significant advances in the fight against NTDs across Africa. As of May 2025, 56 countries have eliminated at least one NTD globally, including Togo (four NTDs) and Benin, Ghana (three NTDs). In 2024 and 2025, several other African countries have achieved this target for one or two NTDs: most recently Chad, Guinea, Mauritania and Niger were acknowledged by WHO for eliminating an NTD.
"To reach elimination, we need more medical innovation. VL patients and their communities urgently need new, improved oral treatments. The recent successes of South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, in eliminating kala-azar show that global elimination of this dreadful disease is within our reach, and I would like to commend the inspiring leadership, unity, and commitment shown today by our African partners," said Dr Luis Pizarro, Executive Director of the non-profit medical research organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
The event, themed "Accelerating NTD elimination through country-driven efforts and cross-border collaboration," was spearheaded by the African Union Commission and the WHO-led Global Onchocerciasis Network for Elimination
