HEALTH: The world Health Organisation has recorganised Togo as the first country reorganized globally to have eradicate four major crippling diseases, but Neglected tropical diseases NTD as they are popular known, thereby setting a world record, Clariform has learnt.
WHAT WE KNOW
Togo has been recognized by the World Health Organization as the first nation to eradicate four NTDs.
WHO announced this at its Monday meeting of the Regional Committee for Africa in Lomé.
Clariform reports that Togo has eradicated trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and dracunculiasis between 2011 and 2022.
Although there are 20 diseases known as NTDs that can be prevented and treated, 1.7 billion individuals worldwide still need NTD therapies.
Many NTDs render adults and children unable to work, crippling, disfiguring, and disabling them by prohibiting them from attending school.
As the first country recognized by the WHO as having won its fight against four NTDs, Togo eliminated all four diseases in just eleven years, according to a statement made available to the press by the Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases which was signed by its Associate Consultant, Kingsley Ochieng.
NOTABLE QUOTE
According to the statement, “Togo previously achieved transmission-free status for Guinea worm disease in 2011. In 2017, it became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate elephantiasis as a public health problem and, in 2020, became the first African country to achieve the same status with sleeping sickness.”
“To eliminate these diseases, Togo adopted a two-pronged approach that focused on first, interrupting transmission and preventing occurrence of new infections; and secondly, treating or managing diseases, their associated morbidity, and their complications, to alleviate suffering.”
In response, the Togolese president, Faure Gbassingbe, said, “I thank you for your appreciation of my country’s achievements in the elimination of neglected tropical diseases.
This progress has been made possible thanks to the dedication and commitment of all health actors who are working at all levels in our country to preserve this precious good that is health.
Health is a priority that we have placed at the heart of our development policies. One of the ambitions of the government’s roadmap to 2025 is to guarantee health coverage and access to basic services for all.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of WHO said also that “The elimination of dracunculiasis, lymphatic filariasis, human African trypanosomiasis, and trachoma is an outstanding achievement and a gift not only for the people of Togo today but for generations to come.”
FLASHBACK
The historic Kigali Declaration on NTDs was adopted and signed by the WHO in June of this year.
The WHO NTD Road Map 2021–2030 and the Sustainable Development Goal objective on NTDs both have global targets that must be achieved, and the Kigali Declaration is a high-level political declaration that mobilizes political will and secures pledges to do so.
The largest financial commitment for NTDs to date has already been made as a result of the Kigali Declaration, which was announced by the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.
Clariform recalls that 600 million people no longer need NTD treatment, 46 nations have eradicated at least one NTD, and cases of long-standing illnesses like sleeping sickness and Guinea worm disease are at an all-time low.
According to the Executive Director of Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, Thoko Elphick-Pooley:
“Togo’s achievement is an important milestone for Africa and the global health community, demonstrating that ending NTDs is possible. Central to this success has been committed country and political ownership, and I hope that leaders across Africa are inspired by the incredible actions taken by Togo to transform the health of its citizens.”
