Celebrating progress in the fight against neglected tropical diseases

On 19th September, a landmark ceremony was held in Zanzibar, attended by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh, to celebrate significant strides in eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The event marked the delivery of the 12 billionth dose of albendazole donated by GSK, a crucial treatment for lymphatic filariasis and intestinal worms.

Wendy Harrison, our CEO, delivered a speech highlighting the incredible progress made in the fight against NTDs, the power of partnerships, and the challenges that still lie ahead. Below is a transcript of her speech, celebrating the remarkable achievements of the Zanzibar Ministry of Health, health workers, and communities in reducing the prevalence of these debilitating diseases.

“Today, we are celebrating progress in the fight against neglected tropical diseases with the delivery of the 12 billionth treatment of albendazole. This milestone is the result of many years of global partnership and is testament to a shared vision and unwavering commitment to eliminating NTDs. 

To our dedicated colleagues in Zanzibar under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and working in agencies, institutes and laboratory; to the health workers, community drug distributors, teachers and network of volunteers, your tireless work has been an inspiration to us all.  

For Unlimit Health, today is an occasion to celebrate our highly valued partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zanzibar. Over the last two decades, we have worked together to ensure that over 40 million treatments for schistosomiasis, intestinal helminthiasis and lymphatic filariasis, reach the communities most at risk of these debilitating diseases across the islands.  

At the end of the last century,  in some communities,  most people were infected with intestinal helminths, with 80% of people having heavy infections that cause the most severe morbidity. Within 10 years, through regular treatment those with heavy infections had reduced by over 60% and recent data suggests that this trend has continued, reducing prevalence and morbidity to even lower levels. 

 The NTD programme has also affected significant reductions of schistosomiasis from historical levels of well above 50% to under 2% of the overall population. This means that overall Zanzibar is nearing the WHO definition of elimination as public health problem.  

However, with more detailed data and analysis we can see there is significant variability across the islands with some areas where persistent infection remains. This indicates that we need to continuing regular treatment to protect these significant gains.  

Evidence suggests that in addition to treatment we also need further preventive measure such as improvements in water and sanitation infrastructure, to stop ongoing transmission.  

Although today’s milestone is a tremendous achievement, our work is far from complete. The Zanzibar Ministry of Health’s NTD master plan recognised that the global funding landscape for treatment delivery has changed significantly.  

In order to maintain the momentum towards achieving our elimination goals, we must use the resources we do have to the best effect – ensuring we are continually improving our abilities to more accurately target communities in need.  

Secondly, we need to recognise that although NTD programmes have specific requirements, they also have similarities with other health programmes. We can use our expertise in building partnerships to identify where synergies and cost efficiencies can be made by working together to embed NTD treatment programmes within the health system. 

And finally, we know that successful and sustainable NTD programmes are those where Ministries and communities have ownership of programmes. It is their decisions, made with a deep knowledge of the context and of other national priorities, that will ultimately lead to the achievement of elimination goals.  

The partnership we have all built to achieve today’s remarkable milestone against the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases, is capable of rising to these challenges, expanding and being strengthened to achieve the goal of a world where neglected tropical diseases are eliminated, and where health equity becomes a reality for everyone. 

Asanteni sana.”