03185nas a2200109 4500000000100000008004100001260001000042100001100052245004200063856010500105520286500210 2020 d bESPEN 1 aESPEN 00 aAFRO PC NTD progress report 2012-2020 uhttps://espen.afro.who.int/system/files/content/resources/NTD%20progress%20report%202012-FINAL_0.pdf 3 aThe year 2020 is a milestone for the efforts to reduce the burden, control and elimination of NTDs. It is 8 years since the 2020 NTD Roadmap ‘Accelerating Work to Overcome the Global Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases a Roadmap for Implementation’ and the ‘London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases’ and 5 years since the global agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework. The year 2020 is a defining moment, when we report on the progress on the implementation of the 2013 African resolution on NTDs, the Regional NTD Programme supported activities and interventions, and discuss the gains that need to be sustained and gaps that need to be addressed by country NTD master plans that align with the NTD Roadmap 2021-2030.
Through the London declaration donors, pharmaceutical companies, governments and partners have provided unprecedented commitment and support to realize the achievements of the 2020 NTD Roadmap that we celebrate today. The Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) launched in 2016, has become a critical partner in Africa. Over the first five years of its mandate, ESPEN has focused primarily on the five most prevalent neglected topical diseases (NTDs) in Africa and has
provided operational assistance to countries to accelerate elimination of preventive chemotherapy (PC) NTDs, including mapping their burden of disease, delivering treatments efficiently, strengthening management of medicines, increasing transparency and using data for decision-making.
ESPEN mandate covers 52 countries: 47 countries in the AFRO WHO region: 45 requiring PC, 2 countries not requiring PC (Mauritius and Seychelles), 5 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean WHO region (EMRO): four in the African continent, Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan, and 1 country outside Africa, Yemen. These five countries from the EMRO region were added to ESPEN mandate
due to their special needs and required operational support in an unprecedented collaboration between WHO AFRO and EMRO Regional Directors.
ESPEN developed an online Portal aiming to strengthen accountability and promote an evidence-based approach, where NTD data can be accessed at subnational level. This helps provides full transparency and increases the availability of strong data for decision-making. It also enables health ministries and stakeholders to share and exchange subnational programme NTD data and use this quality data for smarter decision-making for NTD control and elimination. Almost 10,000 actions maps are available in the portal to help government implement the right NTD interventions and monitor progress at subnational level.
This short report provides progress in the five PC-NTDs during the implementation period of the 2020 Roadmap (2012-2020) in the African Region.