Togo has been given due recognition by the prestigious World Health Organization as the first country globally to eliminate 4 Neglected Tropical Diseases.
The special recognition was made known by the Health Organization during its Regional Committee for Africa meeting held in Lomé on Monday, August 22.
According to reports, between 2011 and 2022, Togo has successfully eliminated the following tropical diseases – dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis), human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and trachoma.
Neglected Tropical Diseases [ NTDs] are a family of 20 preventable and treatable diseases, but despite that, about 1.7 billion people worldwide still require NTD interventions.
Many NTDs are known to weaken, impair and cripple the health of children and Adults, by preventing them from going to school and from being able to work.
Associate Consultant, Kingsley Ochieng of the Uniting to Combat NTDs [Neglected Tropical Diseases] In a statement noted that as the first country acknowledged by WHO to have won its fight against the reported 4 NTDs, Togo eliminated all 4 diseases in just 11 years.
The President of Togo, Faure Gbassingbe in his official statement said ;
The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in an applauding statement said
“The elimination of dracunculiasis, lymphatic filariasis, human African trypanosomiasis and trachoma is an outstanding achievement and a gift not only for the people of Togo today but for generations to come.”