World NTD Day 2024

The MENTOR Initiative has been working to reduce the burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases for around 13 years across a wide range of contexts. Conflict, displacements, flooding, and a lack of infrastructure are some of the challenges our teams have faced to ensure NTD control activities reach underserved communities with limited access to healthcare.  Working […]

Integrating NTD control into community-based healthcare in Central African Republic

A pilot project to diagnose and treat Human African Trypanossomiasis (HAT) recently began in Batangafo and Kabo Districts, Central African Republic. Community health workers, health care providers and traditional practitioners from local areas were trained to carry out the testing, which forms part of the community health strategy for the Ministry of Health. During the first […]

Neglected Tropical Diseases

MENTOR aims to reduce the burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases by integrating activities such as Mass Drug Administration, hygiene promotion, and intensified disease management

NTD prevention in South Sudan

A mass drug administration (MDA) campaign targeting onchocerciasis (also known as ‘river blindness’) and lymphatic filariasis began in South Sudan earlier this month. These two Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are among the five endemic NTDs that respond to Preventive Chemotherapy (PC-NTDs). MENTOR and the NTD Department of the South Sudanese Ministry of Health are delivering […]

Dengue control in Venezuela

Poor sanitary conditions caused by the ongoing economic and political crisis in Venezuela have exacerbated the rapid spread of dengue fever in urban settings. This puts many people at risk from this dangerous arboviral disease, which infects an estimated 100-400 million people every year (source: WHO). The Aedes mosquito that transmits dengue breeds easily in […]

Hygiene promotion for children in Venezuela

A programme recently implemented in Venezuela is raising awareness about the importance of good hygiene to help protect children from diseases. The MENTOR Initiative is working with educational partners in seven states to establish good hygiene habits in children. This is done through promoting messages about hand washing, safe water consumption and clean environments. Thanks […]

Community-based deworming campaign launched in two provinces in Angola

A Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign targeting the two most prevalent Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Angola was launched last week (29 March). For the first time in the country, deworming treatments are being administered to children outside of schools and adults at the community level. This new approach makes sure the drugs used to […]

Making water truly safe: WASH and the risk of vector-borne diseases in urban settings

The MENTOR Initiative urge immediate action to integrate disease control with water and sanitation, as the UN 2023 Water Conference gets underway today (22 March) to address the global water agenda. Otherwise, many millions of people living in densely populated urban settings are at risk of death and suffering from vector-borne diseases. Richard Allan, MENTOR […]

World NTD Day

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are estimated to cause suffering to over 1.7 billion people worldwide. MENTOR is working with its partners to tackle NTDs such as dengue and leishmaniasis, in the challenging context of humanitarian emergencies. The disease burden is especially high in these settings due to conflict, inaccessibility and populations that are often displaced […]

Sharing best practice at the Neglected Tropical Diseases Conference, September 2022

The MENTOR Initiative, a sponsor of the Neglected Tropical Diseases NGO Network (NNN) conference, attended in person to share experiences and best practice with implementing partners and national NTD programmes. MENTOR is an active member of NNN and contributed to some of the cross-cutting groups that met. The theme of the conference: NTDs in health […]