World NTD Day 2026: Unite. Act. Eliminate.

Burundi eliminated trachoma. Proof elimination works.

On 30 January, CBM marks World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day. Our focus in 2026 is the elimination of trachoma. Burundi achieved elimination in 2025, achieved through coordinated national action and long-term partnership, and community support.

By 2030. A world without trachoma.

World NTD Day calls for sustained collaboration and long-term commitment. NTDs affect communities facing poverty, weak services, and limited water and sanitation. 

A call to action, “Unite. Act. Eliminate.”, is designed to accelerate the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021–2030 roadmap targets for controlling and eliminating NTDs.  

  • Unite: Emphasizes the need to join the global NTD community and contribute to achieving our collective goal. 

  • Act: Urges the implementation of concrete interventions—such as mass drug administration, vector control, and improved sanitation (WASH)—and asks for increased, sustained investments. 

  • Eliminate: Focuses on the final goal: ending the burden of NTDs by delivering treatment, reducing transmission, managing disability and combating stigma. 

Download our annual report and read more about our NTD work

Why trachoma matters

Trachoma stands as the leading infectious cause of blindness or visual impairment in about 1.9 million people worldwide. Infection spreads through contact with infected eyes or faces. Risk rises where water, sanitation, and hygiene access fall. Repeated infection scars the eyelid and turns lashes inward. This causes trachomatous trichiasis.  

Global progress 
The WHO's SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial Cleanliness, Environmental Improvement) has proven itself for around 30 years. People needing trachoma interventions dropped below 100 million for the first time on record. Between 2002 and 2025, people at risk fell by 94 percent. This marks a major public health milestone. Global progress proves elimination works when countries and partners stay aligned. 

CBM has supported trachoma elimination efforts since the 60s, working alongside governments and partners to strengthen national programmes and reach affected communities.  From 2021 to 2024, CBM reached 13.0 million people with trachoma interventions. We supported 11.3 million doses of azithromycin to stop transmission, enabled 30,100 trichiasis surgeries to prevent blindness, and strengthened prevention through 26,200 WASH facilities, including wells, boreholes, and latrines. We also trained 10,600 people in WASH and trichiasis surgery, building local capacity to sustain elimination. 

Elimination is achievable

Burundi, Egypt, and Pakistan eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Burundi secured validation in July 2025 after two decades of national effort. The country became the first in East Africa to reach this goal. Egypt followed in November 2025, closing a 3,000-year chapter of trachoma history and marking a major step for NTD control in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Pakistan achieved elimination in 2024 and became the sixth country in the region to reach this result. These milestones reflect leadership, coordinated action, and sustained partnership.

Where CBM works now

CBM supports trachoma and NTD programmes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Sudan. Work focuses on prevention, treatment, surgery, and health system strengthening.

With support from CBM, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) National NTD Programme launched the Sight for Africa project in June 2025 to accelerate trachoma elimination efforts across the country. The initiative works with Sightsavers and receives funding from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The project aims to reach more than 2.5 million people across ten districts through trachomatous trichiasis surgery campaigns. Outreach brings care to remote areas where advanced trachoma threatens sight and dignity. 

Trachoma remains a major public health concern in the DRC. Insecurity, limited infrastructure, and funding gaps restrict access to surgery. Mass drug administration reached many communities. Many people with late stage trachoma still lack surgery, a critical step toward elimination. 

CBM's impact in trachoma elimination (2021-2024)

  • 13 mln people reached with treatment

  • 11.3 mln doses of Azithromycin provided

  • 30,100 community members received TT Surgeries

  • 26,200 WASH facilities constructed (wells, boreholes, latrines)

Advocating for policies and practices to advance NTD elimination

  • Members of the NTD team joined over 300 delegates from more than 100 organizations to participate in the 16th annual conference of the Neglected Tropical Diseases NGO Network, held in Uganda. Members of the team together with colleagues from the END Fund facilitated a workshop session on “Sustaining MDA Coverage and Surveillance Quality: Country Innovations and Lessons from Onchocerciasis Entomological Assessments.”
  • The NTD team represented CBM at the second International Conference on NTD Research (InCORNTD) in Africa from 20–22 January 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda. The team presented a poster on findings from a study on lymphoedema morbidity management and disability prevention in an internally displaced persons camp in the DRC.

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