Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network (NNN) conference 2025

We are excited to be attending the Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network (NNN) conference in Kampala this week with a focus on sustainable innovations to transform the fight against NTDs.

On Thursday, Xavier Badia, MENTOR Programme Manager and Chair of the NNN Conflict and Humanitarian Emergencies Working Group, will lead a workshop addressing NTD control in fragile humanitarian settings where there is often limited healthcare, poor infrastructure and security issues.

The Conflict and Humanitarian Emergency Working Group aims to improve the management of NTDs by developing best practice and promoting operational research and collaboration to move towards achieving WHO NTD roadmap targets.

MENTOR specialises in supporting health ministries to prevent and treat NTDs in communities affected by conflict and humanitarian emergencies.

Last year, over 27,000 people were treated for leishmaniasis in Syria and around 2 million treatments were administered in South Sudan for onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis.

In Angola, we have worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health for over 10 years to deliver mass drug administration campaigns in communities that are hard to reach and lack access to health services.

In 2024, we supported the administration of over 7.4 million treatments addressing the significant risks of schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminths.

“As humanitarian crises grow due to increasing conflict, extreme weather caused by climate change and funding cuts, it has never been more important to focus on reaching people at most risk of neglected tropical diseases. We look forward to working with our colleagues from other NGOs at the conference to progress towards ending the suffering from NTDs.” – Xavier Badia.