Neglected Tropical Diseases Are at Risk of Resurgence

Reductions in USAID support for neglected tropical disease programs increase the risk of resurgence, including diseases such as onchocerciasis (river blindness).

For nearly two decades, coordinated mass drug administration campaigns supported through USAID partnerships enabled substantial reductions in transmission across endemic regions. These programs depended not only on pharmaceutical donations, but on the logistical infrastructure required to deliver treatments at scale.

The concern is not the absence of effective medicines. Rather, it is the fragility of delivery systems. Interruptions in surveillance, supply chains, and community-based distribution can rapidly reverse years of epidemiological progress.

From a health systems perspective, this reflects a broader structural vulnerability in global disease control efforts: elimination gains require sustained investment. When financing mechanisms destabilize, diseases previously near elimination can re-emerge.

For researchers and practitioners working in infectious disease control and implementation science, this development warrants close attention, particularly regarding long-term sustainability models for NTD programming.

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