Ethiopia’s Amhara Region face public health challenges driven by recurrent disease outbreaks, conflict-related displacement, and limited access to safe water and sanitation. Among the most critical emergencies in recent years has been cholera, an acute diarrhoeal disease linked to unsafe water and poor hygiene practices. 

Across the winding corridors of district health offices in Uganda, a quiet but profound transformation is taking place. It is not marked by grand announcements or sweeping reforms, but by the steady, deliberate strengthening of the systems that keep communities healthy.

On Thursday, January 30, Angola marked World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (NTDs), celebrated annually under the theme “Unite, Act, Eliminate,” with an event that marks a significant advance in the national response to these diseases, in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy for NTDs 2021-2030. 

Across the winding corridors of district health offices in Uganda, a quiet but profound transformation is taking place. It is not marked by grand announcements or sweeping reforms, but by the steady, deliberate strengthening of the systems that keep communities healthy.

Guided by the World Health Organization's District Health Management Team (DHM), district teams are steadily redefining what it means to deliver resilient, people-centered healthcare, one dataset, one mentorship session, and one emergency response at a time.

By: Dr. Nzuzi Katondi, WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases Officer in Angola

World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (NTD), marked every year on January 30, is an opportunity to reflect on a public health problem that continues to affect millions of people around the world and thousands of Angolans, especially in the most vulnerable communities.

Pretoria—World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day provides an important opportunity to reaffirm our collective commitment to ending diseases that continue to affect the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. NTD are preventable, treatable and, in many cases, entirely eliminable. Yet globally they still affect more than one billion people, imposing an unacceptable burden of illness, disability, stigma and lost opportunity.

The fourth-round national polio vaccination campaign with type two novel Oral Polio Vaccine (nOPV2) marked a milestone reaching over 26 million children in all regions, while in 22 zones in seven regions in Amhara, Oromia, Somali, South Ethiopia, Harari, Dire Dawa and Afar regions co-administered with bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV).