The South-East Asia regional programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) was launched in 2000. This study presents the progress and impact of the programme in the region.
Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is traditionally acquired by drinking water containing copepods (water fleas) infected with D. medinensis larvae, but in recent years also appears increasingly to be transmitted by eating fish or other aquatic anima...ls. The worm typically emerges through the skin on a lower limb of the host 1 year after infection, causing pain and disability.
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Yaws is a chronic tropical skin disease that mainly affects children in remote, tropical and often impoverished areas. The disease presents with highly infectious lesions of the skin which can spread to the cartilage and bone. It is one of three endemic treponenatoses and is caused by the spirochete... bacteria Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue. Under the proposed World Health Organization’s new NTD Roadmap 2030, yaws has been targeted for global eradication by 2030.
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In South and Central America, lymphatic filariasis (LF) is caused by Wuchereria bancrofti, which is transmitted by Culex quinquefasciatus, the only vector species in this region. Of the seven countries considered endemic for LF in the Americas in the last decade, Costa Rica, Suriname and Trinidad a...nd Tobago were removed from the World Health Organization list in 2011. The remaining countries, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Guyana and Haiti, have achieved important progress in recent years. Brazil was the first country in the Americas to stop mass drug administration (MDA) and to establish post-MDA surveillance. Dominican Republic stopped MDA in all LF-endemic foci: La Ciénaga and Southwest passed the third Transmission Assessment Survey (TAS) and the Eastern focus passed TAS-1 in 2018. Haiti passed the TAS and interrupted transmission in >80% of endemic communes, achieving effective drug coverage. Guyana implemented effective coverage in MDAs in 2017 and 2018 and in 2019 scaled up the treatment for 100% of the geographical region, introducing ivermectin in the MDA in order to achieve LF elimination by the year 2026. The Americas region is on its way to eliminating LF transmission. However, efforts should be made to improve morbidity management to prevent disability of the already affected populations.
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Lymphatic filariasis (LF), a neglected tropical disease, is targeted for global elimination as a public health problem. This article reviews the history of LF control and elimination activities in the countries of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) over the last... 2 decades. In 2000, the estimated at-risk population in EMR countries was 12.6 million people, accounting for approximately 1% of the global disease burden. Of the 22 EMR countries, 3 countries (Egypt, Sudan and Yemen) were LF endemic and the disease was suspected in 4 other countries (Djibouti, Oman, Somalia and Saudi Arabia). After almost 2 decades of implementing sustained control and prevention measures, Egypt and Yemen were successfully validated by the WHO as having achieved the elimination criteria in 2017 and 2019, respectively. In 2018, Sudan completed mapping of LF, reaching 26.2% geographical coverage where mass drug administration (MDA) is required and is scaling-up MDA. Extensive epidemiological assessment indicated the absence of LF transmission in the four suspected countries and no MDA required. Challenges faced during the elimination and post-elimination phases are described and discussed
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Analysis of microfilaria prevalence data from 430 communities
Considerando las repercusiones del cambio climático cada vez más intensas en todo el mundo, las naciones deben aumentar drásticamente la financiación y la implementación de medidas diseñadas para ayudar a las naciones y comunidades vulnerables a adaptarse a la tormenta de fenómenos climático...s extremos, señala un reciente informe del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA).
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Achieving universal access to WASH in health care facilities requires political will and strong leadership at both national and facility levels, but is highly cost-effective, and would yield substantial health benefits. A global analysis estimated that universal basic WASH services in health care f...acilities could be achieved in 46 least developed countries (LDCs) by 2030 for less than US$10 billion, which represents additional expenditures of less than US$1 per person per year.
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Special Focus on COVID-19
The report provides updated estimates for drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools including progress from 2015 to 2019. It highlights the rapid improvement needed to ensure students have access to handwashing facilities with soap and water during the COVID-19 pan...demic, and to meet associated SDG targets by 2030.
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Accountability for the global health sector strategies, 2016–2021
WHO/CDS/HIV/19.7
BMC Public Health, Volume 18, Article number: 303 (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5208-0
Published: 02 March 2018