Accra: A multidisciplinary research team, led by Professor John Owusu Gyapong, Immediate Past Vice-Chancellor, University of Health and Allied Sciences, has published a significant review article in a highly ranked international journal. The paper titled, 'Current State and Future Directions of Interventions for Neglected Tropical Diseases' was published in Nature Human Behaviour on June 4, 2025. This is the first time a UHAS-affiliated team has appeared in this prestigious journal, highlighting the institution's growing excellence in global health research.
According to Ghana News Agency, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) continue to impose severe health, social, and economic burdens on millions in low-resource regions. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) specifically carries about 40 percent of the global NTD burden, with approximately 600 million people requiring treatment. Endemic countries such as Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia have high burdens of NTDs including onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis. Globally, over one billion people are affected by at least one NTD, with an estimated 552 million cases recorded worldwide in 2019, reflecting a 29 percent reduction since 1990. NTDs often lead to chronic health conditions, severe disability, and even death.
In their new paper, Prof. Gyapong, the principal investigator, and colleagues reviewed existing strategies such as preventive chemotherapy, innovative disease management, vector control, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene). They argue that sustained political commitment, innovative financing, and integrated health-system approaches are essential to eradicate NTDs by 2030. Prof Gyapong stated, 'This narrative review examines the current state of and future directions for interventions aimed at controlling, eliminating, and eradicating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).' The authors provided an overview of these diseases, their epidemiological burden, and their social and economic impacts, while emphasizing the role of the global coalition in combating them and reviewed current interventions by examining their successes, challenges, financing mechanisms, and sustainability strategies.
Additionally, the paper discusses the role of implementation research, community engagement and involvement (CEI), and human behavior, emphasizing the importance of integrating NTD control into existing health systems to support long-term sustainability. Prof Gyapong highlighted the importance of understanding the complex interplay between human behavior, social norms, and cultural practices in developing interventions that promote treatment adherence, health-seeking behavior, and community participation. Their analysis shows that genuine community involvement drives both sustainability and ownership of NTD programs at the local level.
The paper highlights significant gaps in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, calling for context-specific strategies that address logistical barriers, funding constraints, donor dependency, stigma, and emerging drug resistance. The authors emphasized that future directions for the global program must prioritize funding and resource allocation, strengthened health systems, innovative research and development-including AI-driven diagnostics-integrated approaches, and community engagement and involvement (CEI) to sustain and accelerate progress in NTD control and elimination.
The researchers concluded that despite major progress made on NTDs over the past few decades, driven by a combination of innovative interventions, global partnerships, and increased advocacy, the diseases continue to pose a substantial public health challenge, especially in low- and middle-income countries. They determined that the persistence of these diseases is exacerbated by factors such as poverty, inadequate health-care infrastructure, and climate change intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which further highlighted the vulnerabilities of health systems and the need for resilient and integrated approaches.
The research team included Professor John Owusu Gyapong, Team Lead, Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance; clinical epidemiologist and leading NTD expert, Mawuli Gohoho, Field Epidemiologist and Senior Public Health Officer for Disease Control and Surveillance, Jasikan Municipal Health Directorate, Dr. Alfred Kwesi Manyeh, Epidemiologist, Implementation Scientist and Director, Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Research, Institute of Health Research (IHR), UHAS, Dr. Mustapha Immurana, Health Economist and Director, Centre for Health Policy and Implementation Research, IHR, UHAS and Professor Margaret Gyapong, Medical Anthropologist, Implementation Research Scientist and Immediate Past Director, IHR, UHAS.
