World Vision Ghana Calls for Stronger National Commitment as Ghana Marks World NTD Day 2026
By, Vivian Adu, Communications Officer
World Vision Ghana joined the Ghana Health Service, development partners, and community stakeholders at the Social Welfare Park in Accra to commemorate World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day 2026.
The annual event held under the global theme “Unite, Act, Eliminate” brought together government representatives, health authorities, civil society organisations, and community leaders to raise awareness of neglected tropical diseases and reinforce Ghana’s commitment to eliminating them.
Speaking on behalf of World Vision Ghana, Awurabena Quayeba Dadzie, Health & Nutrition Technical Project Manager, highlighted the urgent need to protect the gains made in NTD control over the past two decades. She noted that progress is increasingly threatened by declining global funding, competing health priorities, climate pressures, and economic challenges.
“We stand in solidarity with the millions of people whose lives are affected by NTDs diseases that are preventable, treatable, and can be eliminated,” she stated, emphasising that the call to Unite, Act, Eliminate reflects both moral responsibility and national urgency.
A Call for Country Ownership and Sustainable Financing
During the commemoration, speakers including the National NTD Ambassador, Dr. Joyce Aryee, underscored the importance of sustained collaboration, heightened community vigilance, and stronger domestic financing to accelerate NTD elimination efforts. They warned that without increased national investment, the country risks reversing years of progress.
World Vision Ghana renewed its appeal for the establishment of a nationally owned Fund to End NTDs, designed to mobilise resources from government, the private sector, philanthropic organisations, and innovative financing mechanisms. Such a fund, they noted, would help safeguard current achievements and support long-term strategies for disease elimination.
World Vision Ghana’s Strategic Commitment
As part of its ongoing contribution, World Vision Ghana is partnering with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, and the National NTD Programme to implement the Sustaining Gains in Elimination of NTDs in Ghana Project. The initiative forms part of the organisation’s FY26–FY30 Strategy, which focuses on protecting the most vulnerable children through integrated health, nutrition, WASH, and livelihoods interventions.
Through this project, communities such as Boafri, Kradenteh, and Wurenja have already benefited from three solar-powered mechanised water systems, providing safe drinking water to 4,550 residents and reducing risks of water-related infections associated with NTDs.
Putting People at the Centre
In her address, Ms Dadzie stressed that the fight against NTDs must remain people-centred. She drew attention to children missing school due to preventable diseases, women facing stigma linked to conditions such as lymphatic filariasis, and families pushed deeper into poverty by illnesses that can be treated or prevented.
“Ending NTDs is not only a health goal it is a pathway to better education outcomes, greater gender equity, stronger productivity, and national resilience,” she said, citing evidence that every US$1 invested in preventive chemotherapy yields an estimated US$25 in economic returns.
Ghana’s Leadership and the Way Forward
The event closed with a collective reaffirmation of Ghana’s leadership in the global effort to eliminate neglected tropical diseases. Stakeholders expressed optimism that with continued collaboration, sustained investment, and strengthened community-level action, the country can achieve lasting elimination.
“Ghana has led before. Ghana can continue to lead. And with unity, action, and sustained national ownership, we will end NTDs permanently,” Ms Dadzie affirmed.
