The U.S. government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) celebrated World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day 2022 on January 30, 2022, under this year’s theme: “Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases.”
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases affecting over 1.7 billion people worldwide, including more than one billion children. More than 40 percent of cases are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon.
The Cameroon Ministries of Health and Education, with technical and financial support from USAID’s flagship Act to End NTDs | West program, are conducting planning and training workshops for an array of stakeholders involved in the awareness campaign.
USAID’s NTD program fights diseases that can be mitigated in early stages by distributing drugs donated by the pharmaceutical industry. USAID supports delivery of safe, effective medicines to treat NTDs and measuring program impact in all ten regions of Cameroon. USAID has provided technical and financial support to the Cameroon NTD program since 2010, with an annual budget of approximately 2.2 billion CFA ($3.8 million).
USAID’s NTD program focuses on controlling and eliminating five diseases: Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), Trachoma, Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Schistosomiasis, Soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal worms). The Act to End NTDs | West Program works in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health of Cameroon, particularly in the Adamawa, Center, East, North, Northwest, Far North, and Southwest regions. Support also includes technical assistance, training, and disease surveillance.
The U.S. government, through USAID, looks forward to strengthening collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and for an NTDs-free Cameroon.
For more information on USAID’s activities in Cameroon, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/cameroon
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Cameroon.
