Both the urinary and intestinal forms of schistosomiasis are thought to be widespread in the Republic of Yemen, with estimates of 3 million people infected and 600 000 suffering clinical morbidity. Sub-national control has been ongoing since 2006 via the distribution of praziquantel (PZQ) against schistosomiasis and albendazole (ALB) against soil-transmitted helminths using school-based treatment. In preparation for a 6-year nationwide control programme with the aim of expanding treatment to the wider community, a new programmatic approach of complementing school-based distribution with community-based treatment was trialled in 10 highly endemic districts in three governorates in December 2009. The new approach achieved coverage of 90.1% of non-enrolled children: a 40% increase compared with the same districts in 2008, and coverage of 97.9% of enrolled children: a 2% increase compared to 2008. Coverage of females (children and adults) was 81.8%, and of adults in general was 73.9%. The total cost per person treated was US$0.66 (US$0.79 in 2008), which includes training, health education, social mobilization, distribution and drugs. These results provide hope that a combined school and community-based approach can be successfully implemented on a wider scale during the main control programme in 2010-2015, with approximately 10 million people targeted in the first year alone.
Towards nationwide control of schistosomiasis in Yemen
A pilot project to expand treatment to the whole community
Oshish, A., AlKohlani, A., Hamed, A., Kamel, N., AlSoofi, A., Farouk, H., Ben-Ismail, R., Gabrielli, A. F., Fenwick, A., & French, M. D. (2011). Towards nationwide control of schistosomiasis in Yemen: A pilot project to expand treatment to the whole community. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 105(11), 617-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trstmh.2011.07.013
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