Zambia ranked 24th in the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)

Zambia has been ranked 24th out of 49 countries on the African continent in the fight against diseases of poverty known as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs),according to a new league table based on the World Health Organization (WHO) data.

The five most common neglected tropical diseases amenable to mass treatment are blinding tracheotomy; intestinal worms; the mosquito-borne elephantiasis; snail-bornebilharzia; and river blindness.

QTV’S David Bweupe reports from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that according to the league table compiled by uniting to combat neglected tropical diseases, African countries with modest national incomes are outperforming richer nations on the continent in the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDS).

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

Zambia’s index score average of coverage of the five neglected tropical diseases amenable to mass treatment calculated using the geometric mean is 56, while the number of people requiring treatment for at least one disease in the country is 11,600.

The highest ranking country in this year’s disease-fighters league is Eswatini.

African Heads of State have put a spotlight on neglected tropical diseases at the 32^nd African union summit taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, through the African leaders malaria alliance (alma), a forum that tracks the fight against malaria and, since 2018 also reviews the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDS).