The Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziaq Salako, has urged state governments to mobilize domestic funding to support the control and elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Nigeria.
Salako, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Mr Daju Kachollom, made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a media conference ahead of the 2026 World NTDs Day celebration.
The theme for the 2026 celebration is “Unite, Act and Eliminate NTDs towards the Achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
The minister said the control and elimination of NTDs remained a critical component of Nigeria’s drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030, attaining health-related SDGs, and eradicating poverty.
He, therefore, urged states to create dedicated budget lines to mobilize the required domestic funding.
“The control and elimination of NTDs in Nigeria remain central to our efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030, attain Sustainable Development Goal Three, and reduce poverty.
“States should create specific budget lines to mobilize domestic resources and integrate NTD elimination activities with other disease control programmes to leverage economies of scale,” he said.
Salako cautioned against allowing NTDs to result in neglected people, stressing the importance of inclusiveness in tackling the disease burden.
“Let us not allow neglected tropical diseases to translate into neglected people. There is nothing about us without us,” he said.
He noted that NTDs thrive in silence and neglect, calling for collective action and determination to confront the challenge.
“As we commemorate this day, let us remember that neglected tropical diseases thrive in silence and neglect. Our collective voice, action and determination can break that silence.
“Together, we can build a Nigeria—and indeed a world—free from the burden of NTDs,” he added.
The minister noted that although Nigeria accounts for about 25 per cent of the NTD burden in Africa, sustained commitment from all stakeholders could lead to total elimination by 2030.
Also speaking, Mr Fatai Oyediran, Director and National Coordinator of the NTDs Unit in the Ministry’s Department of Public Health, said NTDs mainly affect rural populations and some urban communities due to poor hygiene, inadequate ventilation, unsafe water sources and limited access to healthcare.
Oyediran said the Federal Government’s interventions had yielded significant progress in eliminating NTDs nationwide.
“We have successfully removed about 59 million people from onchocerciasis (river blindness) treatment, a feat yet to be recorded by any other country.
“We have also removed 119.9 million Nigerians from treatment for lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), and about 36 million people from trachoma treatment, leaving only about four million still requiring intervention,” he said.
According to him, these achievements show that Nigeria is on track to meet the 2030 NTD elimination target.
However, Oyediran called for increased support for the elimination of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and other case-management NTDs such as snakebite envenoming, rabies and Guinea worm disease.
He also encouraged improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices and increased public sensitization to reduce the prevalence of NTDs.
“Scientific evidence has shown that proper WASH practices can reduce disease prevalence by up to 30 per cent.
“This means that if WASH is effectively practiced, 30 per cent of the disease burden would be eliminated, leaving only 70 per cent to be addressed through clinical and preventive interventions,” he said.
