Nigeria Moves to Tackle Neglected Tropical Diseases

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Deliberate efforts are now being taken by the federal and state governments in Nigeria to address neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

One of the steps is allocating more funds to address NTDs in the 2027 budgets by two of the three tiers of government, as part of the ambition to generate sustainable, country-led funding models for NTD elimination.

At a meeting in October in Abuja, the need to establish dedicated budget lines for NTD programmes was the focus, and more states agreed to do the needful.

Nigeria accounts for 25 per cent of Africa’s total burden of NTDs, a group of 21 diseases that can cause disability, disfigurement and death.

“For some time now, budget releases have been very poor. But efforts have been made not only to have budgets released for NTDs but to ensure that diseases like these are prioritised in health budgets,” the chairman of the House Committee on Health, Mr Amos Magaji, stated.

The Federal Ministry of Health said 23 of the 36 states of the federation created dedicated budget lines for NTDs in 2026, an improvement from the 19 states in 2025.

“Last year, 19 states established dedicated NTD budget lines totalling more than $1 million; this year, 23 states have now reported dedicated budget lines. It’s clear that Nigeria’s momentum on NTD financing is growing – and its leadership is setting a powerful example across Africa.

“We hope that following this meeting, Ministries of Health and legislators will build on that progress, bring more states into the effort and prioritise NTDs in the 2027 budget planning cycle,” the Head of Resource Mobilisation at Uniting to Combat NTDs, Mr Gerald Ogoko, said.

Through timely releases of state-level domestic funds, Nigeria is positioned to leverage an additional $7 million in external funds from the Reaching the Last Mile Fund (RLMF) for 2027, substantially multiplying the reach and impact of domestic investments.

The National Coordinator for NTDs at the Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Adebayo Peters, celebrated Nigeria’s gains in reducing its NTD burden, saying, “We have been able to drastically reduce the number of people affected by these diseases. The efforts to eliminate NTDs are successful because of the contributions we are getting both from the government and our implementing partners.”