The World Health Organization (WHO) said its midterm assessment found fewer people needed interventions for neglected tropical diseases, while record dengue and funding gaps threaten global control efforts.
In 2024, 1.41 billion people needed treatment or another intervention, 36% fewer than in 2010. By June 2026, at least one disease in the NTD group had been eliminated in 63 countries, compared with 42 in 2020; the count does not mean every disease was eliminated in each country.
Sleeping-sickness cases were down 98% from 1999, and 2025 saw only 10 human Guinea worm cases, a historic low. Dengue accounted for a record 15.1 million infections during 2024. Efforts to eradicate yaws remain behind schedule, the WHO said.
Resources for NTD programs were still 30% below their pre-pandemic benchmark. From 2018 to 2024, a small donor pool accounted for nearly 80% of international development assistance directed to NTD programs, leaving them vulnerable to sudden funding cuts.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described disease elimination as a major global health achievement. He warned gains could go into reverse without stable financing and closer integration of disease control with primary health care.
The WHO urged governments to increase domestic investment and widen donor support, while acting faster to reach global disease-control targets by 2030. Those goals are included in its 2021-2030 road map.
