ENDING
NEGLECTED
DISEASES
THROUGH 10 STEPS
THROUGH 10 STEPS
Disease mapping is a vital part of determining effective treatment plans and strategies. In Angola, comprehensive mapping was conducted in three provinces to assess the presence and intensity of intestinal worms and schistosomiasis.
New technology has been instrumental in not only identifying where treatment is needed, but what the remaining disease intensity is in areas that have already been treated.
Integrated Treatment - Mapping gives detailed information about the prevalence of each NTD. This allows for countries to plan integrated treatment strategies for communities at risk for multiple NTDs.
Mapping measures the prevalence and intensity of a disease. This gives a snapshot of a community or population with a disease at a moment in time.
The new data enabled the development of disease prevalence maps, which assisted in defining a target population and indicating what community needed which drugs. Now, treatment is focused on lymphatic filariasis, intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and river blindness in 11 provinces, including integrated control efforts for areas endemic with multiple NTDs.
A generous consortium of pharmaceutical companies has donated the majority of medicines needed to treat the five most common NTDs. The END Fund coordinates and provides access to technical assistant for governments, like the Angolan Ministry of Health (MoH), in procuring and in the supply chain of these drugs through the World Health Organization (WHO) donation program.
The MoH applied to the WHO’s drug donation program for treatments for intestinal worms and schistosomiasis. The END Fund assisted the MoH through the application process and interceded when the supply was delayed to make sure Angola was on the distribution list so that thousands of children could receive treatment through a school-based campaign.
As a part of a five-year integrated NTD control plan, the Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MoPHS) launched a national School-Based Deworming Program. Phoebe Judy Akinti is a teacher trainer for the Changamwe District Education office where she trains teachers to deworm school-aged children for intestinal worms and schistosomiasis. She ensures that teachers and school directors have appropriate skills and knowledge to treat the children with drugs, supervise for any potential adverse side effects, record treatment data accurately, and report to district education and health officials.
Through the use of mass media, the Yemeni people were informed about the effects of NTDs, the importance of treatment, and plans for ongoing MDA. Despite on-going political and social instability in 2014, over 7 million people were treated through this campaign.
A national prevalence survey completed in 2010 found Zimbabwe endemic for schistosomiasis and intestinal worms. In response to this, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) launched the first-ever MDA program in 2012. Since then, the END Fund has supported efforts to implement treatment.
20,000 school children were surveyed using both the CCA and the original testing tool, Kato-Katz. Results from this evaluation project will inform future treatment strategy and the setup of sentinel sites where monitoring activities will be conducted to track the declining disease burden.
Scaling up treatment also relies on scaling up investment. The END Fund has been proud to steward a space for the growing community of investors in Ethiopia’s NTD programs so that larger numbers of people at risk are able to receive treatment.