World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday congratulated Guinea for eliminating human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness -- a neglected tropical disease.

Human African trypanosomiasis is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by infected tsetse flies.

The symptoms typically include fever, headaches, joint pain, and, in advanced stages, neurological symptoms like confusion, disrupted sleep patterns, and behavioural changes.

It is the first neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in the country and is an important achievement in this public health field on World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, marked every year on January 30.

“Congratulations, #Guinea, for eliminating human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness,” said Ghebreyesus, in a post on the social media platform X.

"This milestone is a testament to the dedication of the health workers, communities, and the government, but also a beacon of hope for nations still battling neglected tropical diseases," he added.

What is sleeping sickness?

In human African trypanosomiasis, parasites are passed to humans through the bite of infected tsetse flies, which acquire the infection from humans or animals carrying the pathogenic parasites.

The disease are caused by two types of parasitic protozoans.

Trypanosoma brucei gambiense is found in 24 countries in West and Central Africa. These account for more than 92 per cent of cases.

Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense is found in 13 countries in East and Southern Africa. It accounts for the remaining 8 per cent of cases.

To curb the sleeping sickness, public health officials work to reduce the reservoirs of infection and cut down the presence of the tsetse fly. Screening of people at risk is also an essential task that helps identify patients earlier in the disease development.

If diagnosis is made early, it is possible to avoid complicated and risky treatment procedures during the advanced stage and to improve the cure prognosis.

“The elimination of sleeping sickness is the result of many years of effort by the Guinean government, its partners, and communities in the overall context of the national policy to combat all neglected tropical diseases,” said Dr Oumar Diouhe, BAH, Guinea's Minister of Health and Public Hygiene.

Meanwhile, Guinea has been added to the list of seven other countries validated by the WHO for eliminating the gambiense form of human African trypanosomiasis. This includes Togo (2020), Benin (2021), Côte d’Ivoire (2021), Uganda (2022), Equatorial Guinea (2022), Ghana (2023) and Chad (2024).

The rhodesiense form of the disease has been eliminated as a public health problem only in Rwanda in 2022.