CBM US

CBM is a lead sponsor of the 13th Annual Neglected Tropical Disease NGO (NNN) Conference which takes place this year on September 13th-15th in Kathmandu, Nepal in South Asia and online.

The conference theme, NTDs in Health Systems - Innovate, Integrate, and Empower, aligns with Pillar 2 of the 2021-2030 road map for NTDs and invites participants to explore innovative ways to collaborate and share resources.

It will also focus on methods of integrating NTD programmes into existing health systems and supporting national programmes to take responsibility for planning and implementing service delivery.

What are NTDs?

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of communicable diseases such as lymphatic filariasis, trachoma and onchocerciasis that can debilitate, disfigure and kill. They are called "neglected" because they usually affect the world's poor and historically have not received as much attention as other diseases.

Our Work in Eliminating NTDs

NTDs are found in tropical and subtropical conditions in 149 countries. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), NTDs affect more than 1.7 billion people and cost developing countries billions of dollars. Every year, half a million people die from one of the 20 NTDs and many more are blinded by trachoma.

The conference plays a critical role in the NTD community because it brings together all stakeholders - implementing partners, donors, the research community and national programmes. It provides a platform for sharing experiences and research findings that will inform the work of all stakeholders.

Girija Sankar, CBM's Head of NTDs who will moderate the high-level panel discussion at the opening plenary on the 13th and speak at the closing event on the 15th, says;

“I am always amazed at the spirit of volunteerism, generosity and optimism that runs through the NNN working groups. Members volunteer weeks of their time to produce technical documents, often working closely with WHO and national governments to develop policies that set the agenda. Now in its 13th year, the annual conference is a celebration of a remarkable community of practitioners who put aside their organisational differences to contribute to the common goal of a world free of NTDs.”

CBM NTD Programmes 2021

Between 2017 and 2021, CBM supported the administration of 269,434,477 NTD drug treatments.

In 2021 alone;

8 million community members were trained in health promotion.
176,000 health workers were trained or retrained in NTD activities.
In addition, CBM facilitated 10,392 environmental improvements in Ethiopia by supporting the provision of water facilities and latrines.

CBM consolidated its work in countries where conflict and instability cause great hardship, such as in some regions of South Sudan and Yemen. Our approach is always to ensure that no one is left behind, and we focus on ways to ensure that drug campaigns reach the most marginalised and remote communities.

CBM has played its part in accelerating NTD elimination by moving from a regional approach to a national approach. One example of this is CBM’s work in Nigeria where we have committed to support four states to accelerate the prevention and treatment of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.

In addition, thanks to CBM’s work with the health authority and partners in Burundi, we are also close to being able to say that Burundi is free of trachoma.

Going forward, CBM plans to forge further partnerships with other NGOs, donors and governments so that we can join forces and influence to ensure that the last mile on the road to trachoma elimination remains not a flag in the distance, but a finish line we can cross.

To celebrate the NNN Conference, we present our new NTD Annual Report 2022

Learn more about NNN Conference 2022