The World Health Organization (WHO) and Bayer AG have renewed their longstanding collaboration to support endemic countries in scaling up free-of-charge treatment for three deadly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This renewed partnership, spanning 2025 to 2030, continues Bayer’s contributions of quality-assured medicines and financial support for global programs targeting Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and taeniasis/cysticercosis.
Since 2002, Bayer AG has donated medicines to support WHO’s work on NTDs, which is now coordinated by the Department of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. The renewed agreement includes the donation of 18 million tablets and vials, valued at approximately US$15.5 million, and US$9.45 million in programmatic support to accelerate progress toward the 2030 targets outlined in the WHO NTD road map.
The medicines donated include suramin and different formulations of nifurtimox for the treatment of sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, as well as niclosamide for taeniasis. These contributions enable countries to provide free treatment to affected populations and strengthen health system capacities in surveillance, diagnosis, and care.
Bayer AG’s support has helped generate momentum for the elimination of human African trypanosomiasis, with ten countries validated by WHO for eliminating either the gambiense or rhodesiense forms as public health problems. In 2024, only 546 cases of the gambiense form and 37 cases of the rhodesiense form were reported, highlighting the progress achieved through screening, case-finding, and capacity-building activities. Focused support will continue in high-burden countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For Chagas disease, Bayer’s donation of nifurtimox, including a pediatric formulation introduced in 2020, has expanded access to treatment for children. Future efforts will prioritize early diagnosis, timely treatment, and the elimination of congenital transmission, with awareness campaigns targeting women of childbearing age and high-risk communities. Additional support includes strengthening health information systems, digital mapping of disease distribution, and supporting networks of patients and health workers.
In combating taeniasis and cysticercosis, Bayer has donated over 1 million tablets of niclosamide since 2020 for individual treatment and mass drug administration in high-risk communities. Treating T. solium infection is critical to preventing cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis, a leading cause of preventable epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries. Future support will focus on scaling up disease control through integrated One Health approaches linking human, animal, and environmental health.
Neglected tropical diseases remain a major public health challenge in the world’s poorest regions, causing widespread mortality, disability, and economic burdens. Medicines donated by pharmaceutical partners have helped WHO and national health ministries reduce the global population requiring treatment by nearly 700 million between 2010 and 2023, with 58 countries eliminating at least one NTD.
The WHO NTD road map 2021–2030 emphasizes that eliminating these diseases requires sustainable, country-level programs supported by strategic partnerships, continued medicine and diagnostic provision, domestic resource mobilization, and strengthened country ownership. Only through such coordinated efforts can global health systems achieve universal health coverage and the eradication of multiple NTDs.
