Feature Stories

Neglected tropical diseases affect millions of people across Africa, yet the efforts to eliminate them and alleviate the suffering they cause receive little national attention. Professor Nicholas Midzi, an expert in preventive chemotherapy of neglected tropical diseases and the Director of Zimbabwe’s National Institute of Health Research, analyses factors contributing to low priority to these diseases and how to reverse the trend.

Preventive treatment of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) has saved many lives across Africa. However, obstacles persist as these diseases often affect impoverished communities in rural areas, conflict zones and hard-to-reach regions. These diseases are also almost absent from the global health agenda. Dr Paul Emerson, Director of the Atlanta-based International Trachoma Initiative, discusses ways to improve treatment and apply lessons for effective prevention and control.

Though separated by 100 km, Aitta Kébé and Maimouna Tamba are fighting for the same cause. They are both Bajenu Gox, striving to ensure that Senegalese women and girls enjoy a life free from gender-based violence.

Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in the elimination, control and eradication of neglected tropical diseases in the African region, where all but one neglected tropical disease (Chagas) are prevalent.

Cabo Verde has fully vaccinated more than 40% of its population against COVID-19, reaching the end-of-year World Health Organization (WHO) global target aimed at widening vaccination and helping to turn the tide against the pandemic.

Africa is expected to experience the highest increase in diabetes globally. The number of people suffering from the disease is predicted to rise to 55 million by 2045—a 134% spike compared with 2021. At 70%, the continent also has the world’s highest number of people who do not know they have diabetes. Dr Bernadette Adeyileka-Tracz, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Diabetes Africa, a non-profit organization working to improve the health of Africans living with diabetes, explains the challenges in diabetes prevention and care in the continent.

Senegal, like many African countries, is bearing an increasing heavy diabetes burden. While efforts are being made to improve prevention, care and treatment, Professor Maïmouna Ndour Mbaye, head of the Internal Medicine unit, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar and director of the country’s national Diabetes Centre, notes that stepping up diabetes control in Senegal starts with a strong national programme. The response must involve all the sectors of the society up to individuals who have a crucial prevention role by adopting healthy practices.

In November 2020, the novel Oral Polio Vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) became the first vaccine to be authorized under the WHO Emergency Use Listing. The vaccine has since been rolled out for limited initial use in countries to tackle vaccine-derived poliovirus. Dr Richelot Ayangma, Medical Officer and nOPV2 Focal Point at the WHO Regional Office for Africa explains the vital role of the vaccine in ending all forms of polio and what countries must do to ensure effective vaccination campaigns.

Margaret was engulfed by depression and overwhelmed by stigma. With little motivation for life as she struggled to adjust to living with HIV while pregnant, she contemplated death. "I could lock myself in the house every day. I wanted to kill my child and kill myself because I thought I was no longer useful in this life and I didn't want my child to suffer as I did," she says.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, the higher the chances of more variants emerging. Since the onset of the pandemic, four variants of concern have been identified, with the Delta—first detected in India—being the most transmissible currently and dominant in many countries. In Nigeria, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, explains how the country is responding to the pandemic in the wake of the more infectious variants.