The government has successfully eradicated Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in 67 out of 77 found with the disease.

NTDs coordination at the Ministry of Health Ambakisye Mhiche said yesterday in a strategic meeting with stakeholders to ensure the diseases are eradicated by 2030.

He said the government was working hard to eliminate the disease in the remaining 10 districts that, according to him, are found in the northern, central part of the country and Kalambo district in the Rukwa region.

“Our target is to ensure the diseases are eradicated immediately in the country as per World Health Organizations (WHO) and the Rwanda declaration,” – he said.

The Kigali Declaration on NTDs was a high-level political declaration which aimed to mobilize political will and secure commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) target on NTDs and to deliver the targets set out in the World Health Organization’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Roadmap (2021 -2030)

He called on the public to join the President’s efforts to reach the government’s target of eradicating the disease by 2030.

NTDs are a group of 20 diseases that include leprosy, elephantiasis, rabies, river blindness, trachoma, and more than a 1.7billion people worldwide, 35% of whom live in Africa suffer from them. 

On August 2, 2021, Tanzania and Rwanda signed several bilateral agreements, including health and immigration, during President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s two-day visit to Kigali.