AUDA-NEPAD and the END Fund announce new partnership to accelerate progress against neglected tropical diseases in Africa

Today, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the END Fund signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a strategic partnership to accelerate the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) across African Union Member States.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, during a high-level strategy circle convened by AUDA-NEPAD in collaboration with partners of the Programme for Investment and Financing in Africa’s Health (PIFAH). The event, From Cost to Capital: Financing Africa’s Health Sovereignty, brought together heads of state, ministers of health and finance, regional and multilateral institutions, development finance institutions, philanthropic organisations and private-sector leaders.

The strategy circle responded to a rapidly changing global health financing environment, as reductions in development assistance, fiscal pressures and shifting geopolitical priorities reshape the resources available to African health systems. Against this backdrop, participants considered how Africa can move beyond treating health spending solely as a cost and instead invest in better health as a foundation for greater resilience, productivity, development and long-term prosperity. The discussion also examined opportunities to expand domestic resource mobilisation, innovative and blended finance, private investment and other sustainable financing mechanisms.

Guy Cave, Interim CEO of the END Fund, participated in a panel discussion during the strategy circle, where he addressed what has fundamentally changed in global health financing and what this requires from Africa, with a particular focus on protecting and accelerating progress against NTDs.

“Today’s MOU signing formalises our shared commitment to African ownership, country leadership and sustainable financing for the elimination of neglected tropical diseases,” said Guy Cave. “This partnership comes at a critical moment, as African leaders and their partners confront a fundamentally different global health financing reality. The END Fund is  honored to work alongside AUDA-NEPAD and partners across the continent to mobilise resources, strengthen country-led programmes and accelerate Africa’s extraordinary progress towards ending NTDs.”

Through the agreement, AUDA-NEPAD and the END Fund will work together to develop strategic partnerships and mobilise resources for NTD programmes, strengthen country-led implementation, and advance policy dialogue and high-level advocacy. The partnership will also promote knowledge exchange, evidence generation and coordination among Member States, regional institutions, philanthropic organisations, technical agencies and civil society.

Said Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, “Health is not a cost to be managed, but an investment in Africa’s resilience, productivity and prosperity. Today’s strategy circle highlighted the need to mobilise more sustainable and innovative financing, strengthen country-led systems and build the partnerships needed to translate this agenda into action. Our agreement with the END Fund is a practical expression of that shared commitment, bringing our respective strengths together to help sustain and accelerate Africa’s progress towards ending NTDs.”

The agreement builds on extraordinary progress against NTDs across Africa. Twenty-six countries on the continent have now eliminated at least one NTD as a public health problem. Several have achieved multiple eliminations, including Ghana, which has eliminated three NTDs, and Togo, which has eliminated four – the first country globally to achieve this milestone.

However, shifting global financing conditions threaten to slow or reverse these gains. Innovative and sustainable financing, integrated systems and continued political leadership will be critical to protect progress and achieve the targets of the World Health Organization’s road map on NTDs.

The strategy circle and the new AUDA-NEPAD–END Fund partnership reflect the growing recognition that sustainable health progress will require new models of cooperation, African-led investment priorities and coordinated action across governments, regional bodies, donors, philanthropy, civil society and the private sector. By bringing together continental political leadership, country-led action and catalytic financing, the partnership will help translate shared ambition into measurable progress towards the elimination of NTDs.

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