The World Health Organization (WHO) and German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG have renewed their long-standing collaboration to help endemic countries expand access to free treatment for three deadly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
Building on a partnership that began in 2002, the new five-year agreement (2025–2030) extends Bayer’s donation of essential medicines and financial support to WHO’s programmes targeting Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and taeniasis/cysticercosis (pork tapeworm disease). The initiative is coordinated by WHO’s Department of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (MNT).
Under the renewed agreement, Bayer will donate around 18 million tablets and vials of suramin, nifurtimox, and niclosamide — valued at approximately US$15.5 million — and contribute an additional US$9.45 million to strengthen WHO’s operational and programmatic activities worldwide. The partnership aims to accelerate progress toward the 2030 NTD Road Map targets.
Bayer’s donation of suramin and nifurtimox has been instrumental in eliminating human African trypanosomiasis from several countries. Between 2020 and 2025, WHO validated ten countries — including Benin, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda — for eliminating one or both forms of the disease as a public health problem. Reported cases have dropped dramatically, with only 583 cases recorded globally in 2024.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the disease burden remains highest, Bayer’s ongoing support continues to drive screening, capacity building, awareness campaigns, and surveillance to sustain progress.
Since 2004, Bayer’s donation of nifurtimox has improved access to treatment for Chagas disease, particularly with the introduction of a paediatric formulation in 2020. Over the next five years, the focus will be on enhancing early diagnosis and preventing congenital transmission through screening and awareness among women of childbearing age.
Bayer will also support efforts to strengthen health information systems, promote digital innovation in disease mapping, and engage patient associations to advance care and awareness.
Since 2020, Bayer has donated more than one million niclosamide tablets for treating taeniasis. By reducing the transmission of Taenia solium, these efforts help prevent cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis — leading causes of preventable epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries. The new agreement will reinforce integrated, One Health approaches in high-burden regions.
NTDs affect the world’s poorest populations, perpetuating poverty, disability, and stigma. Despite this, global partnerships and medicine donations have led to significant progress — reducing the number of people requiring NTD treatment by nearly 700 million between 2010 and 2023.
Today, 58 countries have successfully eliminated at least one NTD, marking steady progress toward the WHO NTD Road Map 2021–2030 targets. Sustaining this momentum, WHO emphasizes, will depend on strengthened partnerships, local ownership, and continued investment in health system resilience.