eSwatini is at the top of the chart with 92 percent of the population at risk on treatment while Malawi is second with 91 percent and Mali in third with 90 percent, according to an organisation called United to Combat NTDs.
“The organisation looked at five most common NTDs in Africa which are: blinding trachoma, the leading cause of infectious blindness; intestinal worms that can stunt the growth of children; mosquito-borne elephantiasis; snail-borne bilharzias and river blindness,” reads the analysis report released during the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday.
The progress of about 49 African countries was reviewed and it showed that the three leading ones are outperforming some richer nations such as South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Botswana.
“The diseases affect more than 600m people in Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) calculates that if countries treat and protect more than 75 percent of people at risk they will beat the diseases,” it further states.