Abstract
The Ascend West and Central Africa programme, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is supporting integrated preventative chemotherapy for up to five neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including intestinal worms, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness, trachoma and schistosomiasis. The programme is implemented across 13 countries by a consortium of four leading international development partners: Sightsavers, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Foundation and Mott Macdonald. This paper presents messages learnt from country assessments that took place prior to the global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These messages remain relevant post-COVID-19, with greater priority being given to the challenges for national NTD programmes in continuing to deliver mass drug administration (MDA) during the pandemic. Stakeholder coordination from the earliest stages of the pandemic has occurred at two levels: in the first mile with global partners of the NTD Supply Chain Forum and in the last mile with implementing partners in each country. This has been instrumental to manage delayed MDA, including the impact delays have on the shipment of NTD donated drugs and the distribution of stock held in country. The Ascend West and Central Africa programme is supporting countries with the resumption of MDA through a risk assessment and mitigation action (RAMA) process.
Highlights
Health system strengthening is a key component of the Ascend West and Central Africa programme, which encompasses building supply chain capacity to improve last mile drug availability and data
While the assessment primarily focused on preventative chemotherapy and transmission control (PCT)-neglected tropical disease (NTD) diseases, the results can be extrapolated to NTD case management diseases as the findings and recommendations relate to measures that address the strengthening of national systems
As a result of the assessment findings and recommendations, the Ascend team contributes at the global level through partnerships such as the NTD Supply Chain Forum and the technical working group led by Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) Act to End NTD programme
Summary
Health system strengthening is a key component of the Ascend West and Central Africa programme, which encompasses building supply chain capacity to improve last mile drug availability and data. In this context, the last mile refers to the in-country procedures leading up to the final point of distribution to communities. Ascend aims to positively impact the sustainability of national neglected tropical disease (NTD) programmes. Building supply chain capacity within ministries of health aims to address the challenges faced by national NTD programmes. The WHO estimate that at least 1.76 billion people still require interventions against NTDs.[2]
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