From Neglect to Action: Africa Rallies Behind Neglected Tropical Diseases Elimination as REMAPSEN Unveils 4th Media Forum Plans

The Réseau des Médias Africains pour la Promotion de la Santé et de l’Environnement (REMAPSEN), or the Africa Media Network for Health & Environment Promotion, has officially kicked off preparations for its 4th annual Media Forum, scheduled to address the critical challenge of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) across the continent.

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) include disease like, dengue, leprosy, rabies, and river blindness. Other examples are schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), trachoma, and yaws. These diseases often affect impoverished communities in tropical regions and are typically preventable and treatable but receive less attention and investment.

The forum, set to be held in Cotonou, Benin, from January 29 to 30, 2026, will operate under the urgent theme: “From Neglect to Spotlight: Advancing Africa’s Agenda for NTDs Elimination.”

The preparations were launched and officially opened during a virtual forum on November 25, 2025, which gathered over 100 journalists, partners, and stakeholders from all REMAPSEN member states.

Media Coverage as a Catalyst for Policy

Speakers emphasized the indispensable role of the media in shaping policy and countering widespread stigma associated with these diseases, which disproportionately affect impoverished communities.

Yaye Sophiétou Diop, Director of Partnership and Development at Speak Up Africa, stressed that media coverage directly influences political will.

“What journalists write about Neglected Tropical Diseases impacts political decisions and policies,” DIOP stated, calling on participants to ensure the forum results in a tangible “change in perception and policies across the continent.”

Diop highlighted the devastating social stigma NTDs carry, particularly in West Africa. “In many parts of Africa, Neglected Tropical Diseases are considered poverty diseases,” she noted. She cited Sierra Leone as an example, where suffering individuals, especially women, are often hidden by their families because NTDs can be associated with witchcraft.

She called for concerted political commitment and increased resource mobilization, especially local funding, noting that NTDs are “avoidable diseases associated with water and sanitation.”

Journalists as Public Health Actors

Dr. Kouamé Jean Konan, the World Health Organization (WHO) Resident Representative in Benin, called for a structured and sustained partnership with REMAPSEN, asserting that communication is central to the fight against NTDs.

“It is your reporting and analysis that will help show the extent of the problem Africa faces. You are public health actors,” Dr. Konan told the journalists gathered online.

Professor Awa Marie Coll-seck, Chair of Galien Africa and Former Senior Minister to the President, reinforced the urgency of integrating NTD elimination into Africa’s health sovereignty agenda. Presenting her paper, “An African imperative: integrating the fight against NTDs at the heart of health sovereignty and sustainable development,” Prof. Coll-seck noted that the diseases create deep inequality.

“This disease is not only a medical issue, it is a challenge to justice and development. People are marginalized; affecting production and affects children education,” she stated, noting that surveillance and investment in eradication remain severely limited in most African countries.

Prof. Coll-seck also revealed that women and girls bear a heavier burden because they are typically responsible for fetching water and attending to the sick, increasing their exposure. She urged for mass campaigns and called for robust domestic manufacturing of medicines.

“Medication must be manufactured by pharmaceutical industries existing on the African continent,” she argued, lamenting that 90 percent of vaccines are currently bought from outside Africa, a situation that must change through government investment in research and innovation.

Domestic Funding Counteracts Donor Cuts

The forum also addressed recent setbacks, including the impact of reduced international financial aid, while highlighting promising domestic resilience.

Dr. Maria Rebollo Polo, Team Lead of the Expanded Special Project for the Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, presented data on the state of NTDs, noting that donor cuts had crippled programs that supplied medicine to affected rural communities.

Despite the initial blow, Dr. Rebollo expressed positivity, noting that African countries are stepping up by creating domestic funding and innovative solutions.

“They [countries] were able to distribute the medicine without the US money [following the USAID funds cut],” she revealed. Governments were able to find and integrate domestic solutions, utilizing existing health infrastructure such as schools, community health workers, and integrating NTD medicine delivery with other large-scale government health programs like mass polio vaccinations.

The 4th REMAPSEN Media Forum in Cotonou is expected to finalize a roadmap for media engagement that amplifies these successful domestic solutions while pressuring governments to end the neglect surrounding these treatable and preventable diseases.