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A research agenda for helminth diseases of humans: towards control and elimination.

Authors :
Boakye A Boatin
María-Gloria Basáñez
Roger K Prichard
Kwablah Awadzi
Rashida M Barakat
Héctor H García
Andrea Gazzinelli
Warwick N Grant
James S McCarthy
Eliézer K N'Goran
Mike Y Osei-Atweneboana
Banchob Sripa
Guo-Jing Yang
Sara Lustigman
Source :
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 6, Iss 4, p e1547 (2012)
Publication Year :
2012
Publisher :
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2012.

Abstract

Human helminthiases are of considerable public health importance in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The acknowledgement of the disease burden due to helminth infections, the availability of donated or affordable drugs that are mostly safe and moderately efficacious, and the implementation of viable mass drug administration (MDA) interventions have prompted the establishment of various large-scale control and elimination programmes. These programmes have benefited from improved epidemiological mapping of the infections, better understanding of the scope and limitations of currently available diagnostics and of the relationship between infection and morbidity, feasibility of community-directed or school-based interventions, and advances in the design of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) protocols. Considerable success has been achieved in reducing morbidity or suppressing transmission in a number of settings, whilst challenges remain in many others. Some of the obstacles include the lack of diagnostic tools appropriate to the changing requirements of ongoing interventions and elimination settings; the reliance on a handful of drugs about which not enough is known regarding modes of action, modes of resistance, and optimal dosage singly or in combination; the difficulties in sustaining adequate coverage and compliance in prolonged and/or integrated programmes; an incomplete understanding of the social, behavioural, and environmental determinants of infection; and last, but not least, very little investment in research and development (R&D). The Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), was given the mandate to undertake a comprehensive review of recent advances in helminthiases research, identify research gaps, and rank priorities for an R&D agenda for the control and elimination of these infections. This review presents the processes undertaken to identify and rank ten top research priorities; discusses the implications of realising these priorities in terms of their potential for improving global health and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); outlines salient research funding needs; and introduces the series of reviews that follow in this PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases collection, "A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans."

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19352727 and 19352735
Volume :
6
Issue :
4
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b830a84d7cbd4aa0afe4b00f1f28b2f4
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001547