The public health control of scabies: priorities for research and action.

Scabies is a parasitic disease of the skin that disproportionately affects disadvantaged populations. The disease causes considerable morbidity and leads to severe bacterial infection and immune-mediated disease. Scientific advances from the past 5 years suggest that scabies is amenable to population-level control, particularly through mass drug administration. In recognition of these issues, WHO added scabies to the list of neglected tropical diseases in 2017. To develop a global control programme, key operational research questions must now be addressed. Standardised approaches to diagnosis and methods for mapping are required to further understand the burden of disease. The safety of treatments for young children, including with ivermectin and moxidectin, should be investigated. Studies are needed to inform optimum implementation of mass treatment, including the threshold for intervention, target, dosing, and frequency. Frameworks for surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation of control strategies are also necessary.

Integration of prevention and control measures for female genital schistosomiasis, HIV and cervical cancer.

Female genital schistosomiasis as a result of chronic infection with Schistosoma haematobium (commonly known as bilharzia) continues to be largely ignored by national and global health policy-makers. International attention for large-scale action against the disease focuses on whether it is a risk factor for the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Yet female genital schistosomiasis itself is linked to pain, bleeding and sub- or infertility, leading to social stigma, and is a common issue for women in schistosomiasis-endemic areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The disease should therefore be recognized as another component of a comprehensive health and human rights agenda for women and girls in Africa, alongside HIV and cervical cancer. Each of these three diseases has a targeted and proven preventive intervention: antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV; human papilloma virus vaccine for cervical cancer; and praziquantel treatment for female genital schistosomiasis. We discuss how female genital schistosomiasis control can be integrated with HIV and cervical cancer care. Such a programme will be part of a broader framework of sexual and reproductive health and rights, women's empowerment and social justice in Africa. Integrated approaches that join up multiple public health programmes have the potential to expand or create opportunities to reach more girls and women throughout their life course. We outline a pragmatic operational research agenda that has the potential to optimize joint implementation of a package of measures responding to the specific needs of girls and women.

La schistosomiase génitale féminine, résultant d'une infection chronique à Schistosoma haematobium (également connue sous le nom de bilharziose), continue d'être largement ignorée par les responsables des politiques de santé nationales et internationales. Si le monde lui accorde son attention en vue de mener une action à grande échelle contre la maladie, c'est surtout pour déterminer s'il s'agit d'un facteur de risque pour la transmission du virus de l'immunodéficience humaine (VIH). Pourtant, la schistosomiase génitale féminine est associée à des douleurs, des saignements et peut engendrer l'hypofertilité, voire la stérilité. Par conséquent, celles qui en souffrent sont souvent stigmatisées, et le problème est courant dans les régions endémiques d'Afrique subsaharienne. Cette maladie doit donc être considérée comme composante à part entière d'une approche globale de la santé et des droits humains pour les femmes et filles africaines, à l'instar du VIH et du cancer du col de l'utérus. Chacune de ces trois maladies fait l'objet d'une intervention préventive ciblée qui a déjà fait ses preuves: le traitement antirétroviral et la prophylaxie pré-exposition pour le VIH; le vaccin contre le papillomavirus humain pour le cancer du col de l'utérus; et l'administration de praziquantel pour la schistosomiase génitale féminine. Le présent document se penche sur la manière d'intégrer la schistosomiase génitale féminine dans la prise en charge du VIH et du cancer du col de l'utérus. Un tel programme fera partie d'un cadre plus vaste consacré aux droits et à la santé sexuelle et reproductive, à l'émancipation des femmes et à la justice sociale en Afrique. Les approches intégrées qui regroupent plusieurs programmes de santé publique permettent d'élargir des perspectives ou de créer des opportunités visant à atteindre un plus grand nombre de filles et de femmes tout au long de leur vie. Nous exposons les grandes lignes d'un programme de recherches pragmatiques et opérationnelles capable d'optimiser la mise en œuvre conjointe d'une série de mesures qui répondent aux besoins spécifiques des filles et des femmes.

Los responsables de formular las políticas sanitarias nacionales y globales siguen ignorando en gran medida la esquistosomiasis genital femenina como consecuencia de la infección crónica por Schistosoma haematobium (conocida comúnmente como bilharziasis). La atención internacional para adoptar medidas de gran alcance contra la enfermedad se centra en determinar si es un factor de riesgo para la transmisión del virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH). Sin embargo, la propia esquistosomiasis genital femenina está vinculada al dolor, las hemorragias y la infertilidad o subfertilidad, lo que conduce al estigma social, además de ser un problema común para las mujeres de las áreas en donde la esquistosomiasis es endémica en el África subsahariana. Por consiguiente, la enfermedad debe ser reconocida como otro componente de un programa integral de salud y de derechos humanos para las mujeres y las niñas de África, junto con el VIH y el cáncer de cuello uterino. Cada una de estas tres enfermedades tiene una intervención preventiva específica y comprobada: la terapia antirretroviral y la profilaxis previa a la exposición para el VIH; la vacuna contra el virus del papiloma humano para el cáncer de cuello uterino; y el tratamiento con praziquantel para la esquistosomiasis genital femenina. Se analiza cómo el control de la esquistosomiasis genital femenina se puede integrar con la atención del VIH y el cáncer de cuello uterino. Ese programa formará parte de un marco más amplio de salud y de derechos sexuales y reproductivos, de empoderamiento de la mujer y de justicia social en África. Los enfoques integrados que unen múltiples programas de salud pública tienen el potencial de ampliar o crear oportunidades para llegar a más niñas y mujeres a lo largo de sus vidas. Se describe a grandes rasgos un programa de investigación operacional pragmático que tiene el potencial de optimizar la implementación conjunta de una serie de medidas que respondan a las necesidades específicas de las niñas y de las mujeres.

Neglected tropical diseases: progress towards addressing the chronic pandemic.

The concept of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) emerged more than a decade ago and has been recognised as a valid way to categorise diseases that affect the poorest individuals. Substantial progress in control and elimination has been achieved and policy momentum has been generated through continued bilateral, philanthropic, and non-governmental development organisation (NGDO) support, and donations of drugs from pharmaceutical companies. WHO has defined a Roadmap to reach 2020 targets, which was endorsed by member states in a World Health Assembly Resolution in 2013. NTDs have been included within the Sustainable Development Goal targets and are a crucial component of universal health coverage, conceptualised as "leaving no one behind". WHO reported that more than 1 billion people in 88 countries have benefited from preventive chemotherapy in 2014. The research agenda has defined the need for affordable products (diagnostics, drugs and insecticides). However challenges such as insecurity and weak health systems continue to prevail in the poorest countries, inhibiting progress in scaling up and also in achieving Roadmap goals.

World NTD Day 2022 and a new Kigali Declaration to galvanise commitment to end neglected tropical diseases.

The World Health Organization's first roadmap and the London Declaration on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have allowed an unprecedented expansion of interventions to control and eliminate this group of infectious diseases that primarily affects vulnerable or marginalised communities. The 2021-2030 NTD roadmap sustains a further acceleration of interventions but also introduces a broader and more ambitious agenda, calling to be accompanied by a new political declaration. Sponsored by the Government of Rwanda, the Kigali Declaration on neglected tropical diseases will be launched in 2022 to renew and reinvigorate commitments to end NTDs, also in the wake of the current setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting on World NTD Day 2022, a global campaign "100% Committed" will call on a broad range of stakeholders to sign the declaration and make bold financial and political commitments towards achieving the 2030 roadmap and Sustainable Development Goals' targets for NTDs.

Strengthening capacity-building in malaria and schistosomiasis control under China-Africa cooperation: Assessing a case study of Burkina Faso.

Malaria and schistosomiasis are highly prevalent in Burkina Faso, whereas China has successfully eliminated malaria as well as schistosomiasis as a public health problem. To implement the China-Africa health cooperation initiative, a series of activities were launched since 2019 to enhance understanding and cooperation among malaria and schistosomiasis professionals in China and Burkina Faso. This study described the achievements of the First Virtual Symposium of China-Burkina Faso Cooperation on Schistosomiasis and Malaria Control. Pre- and post-test questionnaires were employed to study the knowledge changes of participants regarding malaria and schistosomiasis control and elimination, explore capacity-building priorities, and identify potential challenges. Chi-squared statistics were used to compare the differences between sub-groups, and p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Participants ranked their preferences for challenges and capacity-building priorities in future cooperation. The responses of participants from both China and Burkina Faso indicated effective improvement in their general knowledge about the diseases whereas the improvement in professional knowledge on malaria and schistosomiasis was limited. The total correct response rate increased from 54.08% to 66.78%. Chinese participants had better schistosomiasis knowledge than Burkina Faso participants did, but the same result was not found for malaria. Diseases control strategies, surveillance and response system, and diagnostics techniques were identified as the top three priorities for future capacity building. Participants from China and Burkina Faso shared almost the same views about challenges except with respect to pathogens, which the former saw as a major challenge and the latter did not. The study findings will help policymakers, health managers, and researchers to understand the future cooperation between Burkina Faso and China on malaria and schistosomiasis.

Neglected tropical diseases: an effective global response to local poverty-related disease priorities.

BACKGROUND: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have long been overlooked in the global health agenda. They are intimately related to poverty, cause important local burdens of disease, but individually do not represent global priorities. Yet, NTDs were estimated to affect close to 2 billion people at the turn of the millennium, with a collective burden equivalent to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria. A global response was therefore warranted. MAIN TEXT: The World Health Organization (WHO) conceived an innovative strategy in the early 2000s to combat NTDs as a group of diseases, based on a combination of five public health interventions. Access to essential NTD medicines has hugely improved thanks to strong public-private partnership involving the pharmaceutical sector. The combination of a WHO NTD roadmap with clear targets to be achieved by 2020 and game-changing partner commitments endorsed in the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases, have led to unprecedented progress in the implementation of large-scale preventive treatment, case management and care of NTDs. The coming decade will see as challenges the mainstreaming of these NTD interventions into Universal Health Coverage and the coordination with other sectors to get to the roots of poverty and scale up transmission-breaking interventions. Chinese expertise with the elimination of multiple NTDs, together with poverty reduction and intersectoral action piloted by municipalities and local governments, can serve as a model for the latter. The international community will also need to keep a specific focus on NTDs in order to further steer this global response, manage the scaling up and sustainment of NTD interventions globally, and develop novel products and implementation strategies for NTDs that are still lagging behind. CONCLUSIONS: The year 2020 will be crucial for the future of the global response to NTDs. Progress against the 2020 roadmap targets will be assessed, a new 2021-2030 NTD roadmap will be launched, and the London Declaration commitments will need to be renewed. It is hoped that during the coming decade the global response will be able to further build on today's successes, align with the new global health and development frameworks, but also keep focused attention on NTDs and mobilize enough resources to see the effort effectively through to 2030.

Correction: Female genital schistosomiasis and HIV/AIDS: Reversing the neglect of girls and women.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007025.].

Control of taeniasis and cysticercosis in China.

National surveys suggest that the prevalence of taeniasis has considerably decreased in China, while reported cases indicated T. solium cysticercosis was historically highly endemic in northeastern, central and southwestern China. The high prevalence of taeniasis and cysticercosis there was driven by socio-ecological determinants. Cysticercosis may occur in the central nervous system, spinal cord, subcutaneous muscle, eyes, heart and oral cavity. Neurocysticercosis, the clinically most important type, causes epilepsy, increased intracranial pressure and neuropsychiatric symptoms. New molecular diagnostic techniques have been introduced for high sensitivity and discrimination of Taenia species. Immunological methods remain useful in the diagnosis of cysticercosis, especially neurocysticercosis. The introduction of imaging techniques including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging has significantly improved the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis. Recently, a combination of pumpkin seeds and areca nut has been explored against taeniasis, while praziquantel and albendazole are administrated simultaneously against cysticercosis, with promising efficacy and low side-effects. The widespread adoption of deworming protocols and techniques for inspection, management and treatment of pigs as well as improved sewage management has contributed to the significant decrease of taeniasis and cysticercosis in northern China. The positive results of these techniques should now be extended to highly endemic areas in western China to achieve the national elimination target for taeniasis and cysticercosis. Elimination of taeniasis and cysticercosis in China will not only benefit public health within China but also set an important example for less developed countries.

The cross-cutting contribution of the end of neglected tropical diseases to the sustainable development goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for an integrated response, the kind that has defined Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) efforts in the past decade.NTD interventions have the greatest relevance for SDG3, the health goal, where the focus on equity, and its commitment to reaching people in need of health services, wherever they may live and whatever their circumstances, is fundamentally aligned with the target of Universal Health Coverage. NTD interventions, however, also affect and are affected by many of the other development areas covered under the 2030 Agenda. Strategies such as mass drug administration or the programmatic integration of NTD and WASH activities (SDG6) are driven by effective global partnerships (SDG17). Intervention against the NTDs can also have an impact on poverty (SDG1) and hunger (SDG2), can improve education (SDG4), work and economic growth (SDG8), thereby reducing inequalities (SDG10). The community-led distribution of donated medicines to more than 1 billion people reinforces women's empowerment (SDG5), logistics infrastructure (SDG9) and non-discrimination against disability (SDG16). Interventions to curb mosquito-borne NTDs contribute to the goals of urban sustainability (SDG11) and resilience to climate change (SDG13), while the safe use of insecticides supports the goal of sustainable ecosystems (SDG15). Although indirectly, interventions to control water- and animal-related NTDs can facilitate the goals of small-scale fishing (SDG14) and sustainable hydroelectricity and biofuels (SDG7).NTDs proliferate in less developed areas in countries across the income spectrum, areas where large numbers of people have little or no access to adequate health care, clean water, sanitation, housing, education, transport and information. This scoping review assesses how in this context, ending the epidemic of the NTDs can impact and improve our prospects of attaining the SDGs.

Reconsidering the underestimated burden caused by neglected tropical diseases.

It is generally acknowledged that the burden caused by neglected tropical diseases needs to be reassessed. Not only are there several important diseases unaccounted for, but new information suggests they have a more substantial impact on health than initially thought. Looking at the tropical diseases as a group makes sense: they tend to cluster in the same poor populations and, to make progress with their control, they will have to be dealt with in an integrated manner. Measuring the effect of such integrated control is likely to reveal the real impact of tropical diseases on human health and wellbeing.

Control of Taenia solium cysticercosis/taeniosis.

Cysticercosis is emerging as a serious public health and agricultural problem in many poorer countries of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Caused by the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, this zoonotic disease forms larval cysts in humans and pigs that can lead to epilepsy and death in humans, reduces the market value of pigs and makes pork unsafe to eat. It occurs where pigs range freely, sanitation is poor, and meat inspection is absent or inadequate, and is thus strongly associated with poverty and smallholder farming. Although theoretically easy to control and declared eradicable cysticercosis remains neglected in most endemic countries due to lack of information and awareness about the extent of the problem, suitable diagnostic and management capacity, and appropriate prevention and control strategies. Human neurocysticercosis occurs when the larval cysts develop in the brain. It is considered to be the most common parasitic infection of the human nervous system and the most frequent preventable cause of epilepsy in the developing world. Thus far the infection has not been eliminated from any region by a specific program, and no national control programs are yet in place. We consider the tools available for combating cysticercosis and suggest simple packages of interventions, which can be conducted utilizing existing services and structures in the endemic countries to provide appropriate and sustainable control of the disease.