Poorer African Nations Rank High in Disease-fighters’: League Table

Addis Ababa Feburary 10/2019 African countries with modest national incomes surpassing some fairly wealthier nations on the continent in the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), according to a new league table ranking

NTDs that include blinding trachoma, the leading cause of infectious blindness and intestinal worms that can stunt growth in children are endemic in poor communities lacking access to clear water and with inadequate sewerage system, it was indicated.

NTDs are communicable diseases prevailed in tropical and subtropical countries and affect 1.6 people worldwide, That’s one in five on the planet, out of which over 600 million people in Africa.

The league table ranks the countries according to their performance in reaching everyone in need with the necessary treatment, across the five most common NTDs in Africa that are amenable to mass treatment.

The table shows that three countries with modest national incomes- Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo- have, for the third year running, reported high treatment levels to those in need across the five diseases.

The WHO reckons that if countries consistently treat and protect more than 75 percent of people needing care, across the five diseases, they are on the track to beating the diseases, it was indicated.

The African member countries are in the right direction towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for NTDs, which to reduce the number of in need of treatment for NTDs by 90 percent by the end of 2030, it was indicated.

However, the number of countries in Africa that are being validated by WHO for achieving elimination of these  diseases is still far below the rest of the world, despite successes  have been gained, it was said.