Mastering the NTD Master Plan: Lessons Learned from the Ascend Programme

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office-funded Ascend programme has supported national neglected tropical disease (NTD) programmes in more than 20 countries.

Now countries throughout Africa are moving beyond the World Health Organisation 2020 Roadmap to eradicate and eliminate NTDs and are drawing up fresh five-year Master Plans guided by the newly launched global 2030 Roadmap. From FCDO’s experience in the Ascend Lot 1 countries, we can derive five key lessons for the new Master Plans to succeed: take sufficient time; get help; use available data; ensure clarity of purpose; and establish a price tag. This article details these five lessons based on reflections from NTD programme managers and other stakeholders from Ascend Lot 1 countries.

The full version of this blog was originally published by our partner, Crown Agents, and can be accessed here.