The United Nations Human Rights Council has called on countries to treat neglected tropical disease prevention, diagnosis and care as matters of health, equality and human rights, including by integrating services into primary health care and universal health coverage.
The council adopted Resolution 62/21, titled “Human rights and neglected tropical diseases,” July 7 during its 62nd session in Geneva. According to the World Health Organization, it is the council’s first resolution addressing all neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
Malawi led the resolution with Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Kenya, Morocco and Tanzania. The measure describes NTDs as preventable and treatable conditions that affect more than 1 billion people, disproportionately burdening people living in poverty, remote areas, informal settlements, humanitarian settings and other underserved communities.
The diseases can cause disability, disfigurement and death while creating expenses and income losses that perpetuate poverty, according to the resolution. They also can expose affected people to stigma, discrimination and social exclusion.
“We welcome this resolution, which underscores that neglected tropical diseases cannot be viewed solely as a medical issue,” Daniel Ngamije Madandi, MD, director of WHO’s Department of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, said in a statement.
Integrating NTD services into health systems
The resolution urges countries to incorporate NTD prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and continuing care into primary health care and universal health coverage. Services should be available, accessible, acceptable and of sufficient quality without discrimination, the council said.
It also calls for governments to protect NTD programs during health emergencies, humanitarian crises and armed conflicts. Preparedness, response and recovery plans should preserve access to essential services and medications and reduce the risk that treatment and prevention programs will be interrupted.
Conflict, occupation and natural disasters can displace communities and disrupt health and support systems, creating conditions in which NTDs can spread. Mobile populations and people living in remote or border communities may also encounter difficulties obtaining prevention, testing and treatment.
To address those challenges, the resolution encourages countries in endemic regions to coordinate surveillance and prevention across borders and ensure equitable access to services for remote, mobile and otherwise underserved populations.
The council also called on United Nations agencies, financial institutions, development partners, philanthropic organizations and the private sector to increase predictable and sustained technical, financial and capacity-building support. The requested support includes resources for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care, surveillance and research based on individual countries’ priorities.
Community health workers, care workers and other front-line personnel have an important role in delivering those services, the resolution noted, and countries should strengthen community-based health systems.
Addressing disability and discrimination
The resolution goes beyond disease transmission and treatment by calling for disability-inclusive NTD programs. Countries should integrate rehabilitation, mental health care and psychosocial support into their responses and ensure that disease-related impairments do not lead to exclusion or denial of other rights.
Governments also should confront stigma arising from misinformation, harmful stereotypes and misunderstandings about NTDs. The council called for affected people and communities to participate meaningfully in the design, implementation and evaluation of health programs and policies.
Women and girls can experience disproportionate medical, social and economic consequences of certain NTDs and may face additional barriers to care, according to the resolution. Countries are encouraged to collect and analyze disaggregated data to identify those disparities and guide preparedness, prevention and treatment.
The measure also links NTD transmission to broader conditions in which people live. Governments and international partners should improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation, adequate housing, health information and hygiene education in affected communities.
Climate change and environmental degradation could alter the transmission and geographic distribution of vector-borne NTDs, the council said. It encouraged countries to consider those risks in surveillance and preparedness programs while strengthening international cooperation on climate adaptation and mitigation.
UN report expected in 2027
The resolution directs the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a comprehensive report examining the human rights dimensions of NTDs. The office is expected to consult with governments, WHO, other international organizations, civil society, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.
The report will examine measures governments can take to prevent poverty, gender inequality, violence, discrimination, marginalization and social exclusion among people affected by NTDs. It also will recommend steps across the United Nations system for incorporating human rights considerations into national, regional and global NTD responses.
The report is scheduled to be submitted to the Human Rights Council’s in 2027.
Resolution 62/21 builds on the council’s previous work addressing discrimination against people affected by leprosy but extends its attention to the full group of 21 conditions recognized by WHO. Those conditions affect more than 1 billion people and carry substantial health, social and economic consequences, particularly in impoverished tropical communities.
