Why the END Fund? Dr. Solomon Zewdu, CEO, reflects on why he chose to lead this organization
We have the solutions, but need the sustained rigour for globe-shifting progress.
Solomon Zewdu, MD, CEO of the END Fund

As a physician, the ultimate calling is to cure — meaning an end-to-end solution to suffering, especially when the solutions are known and proven. It means leveraging science and innovation, diagnosing illnesses, prescribing treatments, and providing relief. The simplicity of the practice is trivial, but what is less obvious is the continued commitment and means to stop the suffering of a billion plus souls, and finish the job.
The END Fund is not simply about eliminating diseases, but more importantly establishing the pathway to alleviate poverty in the most marginalized and forgotten members of society: those whose greatest misfortune is to be born into poverty.
‘Poverty is the precursor of the diseases that we are looking to overcome.’
And so, beyond health outcomes, it is about poverty alleviation and providing a mother, a father, or child the opportunity to live a productive and fulfilling life free of stigma, discrimination and debilitating disease conditions: It is an investment in the generational dividends.
When over a billion people around the world have diseases that cause long-term pain, suffering and in many cases, death, the label ‘neglected’ reveals a troubling reality in which NTDs, rather than sparking urgency, have been resignedly accepted as part of the status quo — for some. It begs the question: ‘Why is it considered okay in one corner of the world, but deplorable in others?’ The elimination of NTDs is not a puzzle waiting to be solved; we possess all the solutions.
‘Why is it considered okay in one corner of the world, but deplorable in others?’
I’ve had the privilege of working in many sectors over the course of my career — in health care, in the military, the private sector and now over ten years in philanthropy. Joining the END Fund is an opportunity to capitalize on systemic opportunities and apply proven solutions to treat NTDs at scale. The END Fund’s work towards elimination and control NTDs is a stark example of what can be achieved when applying proven solutions and leveraging solid partnerships.
‘The elimination of NTDs is one of global health’s most incredible yet under-recognized success stories.’
The END Fund mobilizes resources for control, treatment and elimination of NTDs, based on data-driven solutions for measurable impact. The END Fund focuses on proven methods: strategic partnerships with local organizations, governments, private sector funders, and philanthropic institutions. The elimination of NTDs is one of global health’s most incredible yet under-recognized success stories.
Local partners are on track to receive 80% of our resources — a testament to the success of the END Fund’s model and core beliefs. Effective and efficient local organizations bring expertise and operational capacity: they lead on-the-ground implementation, and measure the success of our treatment programs, like those featured in The Fly Collectors, a documentary film telling the story of a group of men in Senegal who use themselves as bait to catch disease-transmitting flies, in order to monitor the transmission of river blindness.
Country ownership is a critical ingredient: it ensures the sustainability and decision-making power stays with the impacted population at the center. Time and time again, I have seen that sustainable success in program implementation is in the hands of the sovereign nation itself.
Collaborative philanthropy allows us to reach scale and provides the flexibility to explore and implement new models for treatment, impact measurement, and sustainable financing to absorb shocks. Private funding means that the work isn’t dependent on one source of resource opportunity and it’s able to flex and respond to change. This is critical in the context of preventing program interruptions and the reversal of gains made.
‘It’s about alleviating human suffering using the tools we already have at our disposal.’
Today is World NTD Day, and for myself and my team at the END Fund it is not just another awareness day with a catchy tagline, it’s about alleviating human suffering using the tools we already have at our disposal. We are now more than halfway towards reaching the World Health Organization (WHO)’s goal of 100 countries having eliminated at least one NTD by 2030. In 2022 alone, 843 million people received treatment for an NTD, and between 2012 and 2023, the pharmaceutical industry donated 17 billion treatments. Meanwhile, in 2024, seven countries were acknowledged by WHO for eliminating an NTD, ten countries eliminated a second, and four countries eliminated a third.
On World NTD Day today, you can join us in this fight by magnifying these incredible success stories >>