Five-year agreement to provide $25 million in medicines and funding through 2030
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Bayer AG have renewed their long-standing public–private partnership to expand access to treatment for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The new five-year agreement (2025–2030) builds on more than two decades of collaboration, focusing on Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and taeniasis/cysticercosis (pork tapeworm disease).
Under the renewed partnership, Bayer will donate 18 million tablets and vials of essential medicines, valued at US$ 15.5 million, along with US$ 9.45 million in financial support for WHO’s programmatic work. The initiative aims to help endemic countries accelerate progress toward the 2030 NTD Road Map targets.
Since 2002, Bayer has supported WHO’s efforts to eliminate NTDs by donating quality-assured medicines and contributing to disease control activities. The renewed agreement covers:
The donations will support WHO’s Department of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (MNT) in scaling up access to treatment and surveillance efforts in high-burden countries.
“On behalf of WHO and the Member States we are mandated to represent, I extend our deepest gratitude to Bayer AG for their generous contribution and enduring collaboration,” said Dr. Jeremy Farrar, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care.
“This 20-year partnership reflects mutual trust and a shared commitment to ending neglected tropical diseases.”
Bayer’s continued support has been instrumental in reducing the global burden of human African trypanosomiasis. Between 2020 and 2025, ten countries — including Benin, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, and Equatorial Guinea — were validated by WHO for eliminating one or both forms of the disease as a public health problem.
In 2024, only 546 cases of the gambiense form and 37 cases of the rhodesiense form were reported globally, marking steady progress toward elimination.
Since 2013, Bayer’s efforts have concentrated on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country with the highest disease burden, supporting screening, capacity-building, and surveillance initiatives.
Bayer’s nifurtimox donation, initiated in 2004, has significantly expanded access to Chagas disease treatment across Latin America. The company’s paediatric formulation of nifurtimox (30 mg), introduced in 2020, has improved treatment adherence among children.
Future efforts will focus on strengthening early diagnosis and preventing congenital transmission, now a major concern as vector transmission declines in the region. WHO and Bayer plan to support systematic screening and treatment for women of childbearing age and conduct community awareness campaigns in endemic areas.
Since 2020, Bayer has donated over 1 million tablets of niclosamide to treat taeniasis, a key measure to prevent neurocysticercosis, one of the leading causes of preventable epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries.
The next phase (2025–2030) will emphasize integrated “One Health” interventions, combining human, animal, and environmental health efforts to control Taenia solium transmission in high-risk regions.
According to WHO, pharmaceutical donations have helped reduce the number of people requiring treatment for NTDs by nearly 700 million between 2010 and 2023. To date, 58 countries have eliminated at least one NTD, with several achieving elimination of multiple diseases.
“The partnership between WHO and Bayer has been a cornerstone in advancing the fight against NTDs,” said Claus Runge, Chief Health Equity Officer at Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
“Guided by our mission of Health for All, Hunger for None, we are committed to continuing our support to eliminate sleeping sickness and control Chagas disease and taeniasis.”
The renewed agreement underscores WHO’s strategy to strengthen country-level ownership of NTD programs through sustainable financing, data-driven surveillance, and cross-sectoral collaboration — key steps toward achieving universal health coverage and NTD elimination by 2030.
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