The NTD Control programme is given a well deserved one year no-cost extension

In February 2009, the Burundian NTD Control programme organised its second annual stakeholder meeting, in Bujumbura.

In February 2009, the Burundian NTD Control programme organised its second annual stakeholder meeting, in Bujumbura. The meeting was attended by the whole team as well as representative from the donor organisation, the different partners, the ministry of health and the Rwandan team.

During the meeting, the team presented the progress made so far in the fight against neglected tropical diseases and its plan for the future. The current funding of the programme started in June 2007 and is supposed to run until May 2010. This annual meeting was thus particularly important to show the impact of the programme half way through its 3-year funding.

Above all, it was important for the team to show the donor representative how much had been achieved with significantly less spending than was expected at first. Indeed, each year the Burundian NTD Control programme managed to reach all its milestones while spending less than half its allocated budget.

The representative of the donor was obviously impressed and allowed the programme to plan a fourth year with the money saved so far. This is a major accomplishment for the programme, which will translate in the Burundian population benefitting from treatment against NTDs for at least one more year.