2026 Annual NTD Programme Managers Meeting

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April 07, 2026

13-16 APRIL 2026, LILONGWE, MALAWI

Introduction

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) continue to affect large numbers of people worldwide. The African Region accounts for roughly 35% of people affected by NTDs, reflecting a substantial burden on countries across the continent. In 2023, an estimated 1.495 billion people required interventions for at least one NTD, representing a 32% decrease from the 2010 baseline, indicating steady but uneven progress toward the 2030 targets.

Africa bears the highest burden, accounting for most global DALYs from several major NTDs. All African countries remain endemic for at least one NTD, and 20 of the 21 WHO-recognized NTDs are present in the region. NTDs are categorized into two sub-categories: those primarily controlled through preventive chemotherapy (PC-NTDs) and those addressed through case management (CM-NTDs). Countries continue to report significant achievements, including the development of national plans to sustain NTD services and the integration of data into national systems. Specific diseases also show encouraging trends. For instance, dracunculiasis is nearing eradication, with only 15 human cases reported in 2024 (Chad, South Sudan), despite ongoing challenges. As of October 2025, 24 countries in the region had eliminated at least one NTD.

Progress across the continent is tangible. In 2025, Niger became the first country in Africa verified by WHO to have eliminated the transmission of onchocerciasis. Many programs are transitioning into post-MDA (mass drug administration) or post-validation surveillance for trachoma and lymphatic filariasis. The 2025 WHO Global Report on NTDs notes slowed or stagnant progress in reducing deaths from vector-borne NTDs, expanding access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), protecting populations from catastrophic health expenditures, and improving the completeness and gender-disaggregated reporting. Financing pressures are acute, with official development assistance for NTDs falling by approximately 41% between 2018 and 2023, underscoring the need for domestic resource mobilization and smarter allocation.

The same report highlights that in 2025, the global funding environment tightened further, with international projections indicating a continued decline in overall official development assistance from the previous year. Early WHO updates also indicated that this contraction led to immediate program disruptions worldwide, delaying mass treatment campaigns. Many countries reported shortfalls in operational funding, affecting mass drug administration and survey operations. Within countries, competing health priorities, subnational pockets of transmission (often along borders and in mobile populations), and limited primary health care (PHC) integration continue to hinder elimination efforts. To catalyse progress, the African Union’s Continental Framework on the Control and Elimination of NTDs in Africa by 2030 provides strategic guidance to support Member States in achieving the continent’s elimination goals. This framework promotes a comprehensive approach that emphasizes disease prevention, scaled-up domestic financing, effective mobilization of human resources, strengthened accountability mechanisms, cross-border collaboration, and robust multistakeholder coordination.

Furthermore, the African Union Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond: Sustaining the AIDS Response, Ensuring Systems Strengthening, and Health Security for the Development of Africa offers innovative approaches for integrating health financing, service delivery, and disease prevention into a streamlined approach for the elimination of NTDs and other diseases while advancing health equity by 2030. It prioritizes integrated health services and domestic resource mobilization to strengthen health systems across the continent. The roadmap calls for increased political commitment and strategic partnerships to sustain investments in resilient health systems, accelerate disease elimination, and advance universal health coverage (UHC), especially for NTDs, which remain underfunded.

About the 2026 Annual NTDs Programme Managers Meeting

This year’s 2026 Annual NTDs Programme Managers Meeting is a follow up to the recently held 2025 Annual NTDs Experts Meeting in Cotonou, Benin which marked a decisive call for a paradigm shift centered on domestic ownership and resilient health systems to secure the continent’s achievements. During last year’s meeting, Member States reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the AU Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond, emphasizing that sustaining this progress requires financial independence and structural integration. They resolved to prioritize domestic resource mobilization through dedicated budget lines and innovative mechanisms, such as health insurance schemes, while elevating NTDs to parity with other major diseases, such as HIV and Malaria. This necessitates the integration of NTD interventions into Primary Health Care, One Health, and WASH strategies, alongside a forward-looking approach that incorporates climate change mitigation and local manufacturing to close persistent gaps in funding and ensure access to essential medical supplies.

The 2026 Annual NTD Programme Managers Meeting, co-convened by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO), will focus on practical solutions to accelerate and sustain the continental NTDs elimination agenda. With the 2030 targets fast approaching, this meeting adopts a multi-sectorial approach that brings together policymakers and policy implementers from governments, communities, civil society and NGOs, academia, and the private sector to align strategies for achieving the targets.

Despite considerable progress toward NTD elimination, the sustainability of these achievements is threatened by fragmented cross-border coordination, persistent subnational gaps, and a reliance on vertical programming that leaves interventions vulnerable to funding shifts. To counter the risk of disease re-introduction and stagnation, this meeting will address these systemic weaknesses by strategizing the integration of NTDs into national PHC services and advancing sustainable domestic financing models. By deliberating on innovative digital tools for precise data-driven planning and placing communities at the centre of accountability, the convening aims to secure long-term resilience and close the critical gaps impeding NTDs elimination ahead of the 2030 timeline.

Objectives

General Objective
To provide a collaborative platform for African countries and partners to operationalize community-centred strategies for NTD elimination, driven by enhanced coordination, effective use of data and digital tools, PHC integration, and sustainable domestic financing.

Specific Objectives

• To review Member States' progress toward elimination goals, with a priority focus on the dissemination of national climate mitigation plans that include NTDs, and integrating NTD interventions into national health strategies, primary health care, and education curricula.

• To evaluate Member States’ progress in establishing dedicated NTD budget lines, and to accelerate domestic resource mobilization and innovative financing for sustainable programming.

• To strengthen national and regional systems by enhancing timely, high-quality health information reporting; fostering robust community engagement and local advocacy; and institutionalizing cross-border collaboration through synchronized surveillance and data-driven planning.

• To build the capacity of Member States in research and innovation through the acceleration of investments in diagnostics, vaccines, and operational research, and promoting the regional manufacturing of essential NTD medicines as well as biennial reporting mechanisms to ensure transparency.

Expected Outcomes

• An enhanced understanding of Member States' progress toward elimination goals, identifying critical gaps and validating the integration of NTD interventions into broader national frameworks, specifically climate change mitigation plans and education curricula.

• A documented assessment of financial sustainability, detailing the establishment of dedicated domestic budget lines for NTDs and the deployment of innovative financing mechanisms to accelerate local funding.

• Agreed-upon frameworks for unified data reporting standards to ensure accuracy, alongside synchronized procedures for cross-border data sharing, joint planning, and coordinated surveillance.

• Identification of priority investment areas to accelerate and promote the regional manufacturing of essential NTD medicines and diagnostics to reduce external dependency.

• Adoption of a structured timeline and mechanism for biennial reporting to track Member States’ investments in research, monitor progress, and ensure transparency.

Previous Editions

• NTD Programme Managers from all AU Member States,
• African Union Commission,
• Africa CDC,
• AUDA-NEPAD,
• WHO-AFRO and EMRO,
• NTDs Partners and
• Health Institutions

Health, Humanitarian Affairs & Social Development (HHS)