Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases.
The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in rural, often difficult-to-access areas, poorly served by national health services. Here, we review the contributions of 4.8 million community-directed distributors (CDDs) of medicines over 2 decades in 146...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e21e6253ddd942f7b055b90318ac0258 2023-05-15T15:16:01+02:00 Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. Uche V Amazigo Stephen G A Leak Honorat G M Zoure Chukwu Okoronkwo Maimouna Diop Ly Sunday Isiyaku Andy Crump Joseph C Okeibunor Boakye Boatin 2021-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 https://doaj.org/article/e21e6253ddd942f7b055b90318ac0258 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 https://doaj.org/article/e21e6253ddd942f7b055b90318ac0258 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Iss 3, p e0009088 (2021) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 2022-12-31T09:15:21Z The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in rural, often difficult-to-access areas, poorly served by national health services. Here, we review the contributions of 4.8 million community-directed distributors (CDDs) of medicines over 2 decades in 146,000 communities in 27 sub-Saharan African countries to control or eliminate onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF). We examine their role in the control of other NTDs, malaria, HIV/AIDS interventions, immunisation campaigns, and support to overstretched health service personnel. We are of the opinion that CDDs as community selected, trained, and experienced "foot soldiers," some of whom were involved in the Ebola outbreak responses at the community level in Liberia, if retrained, can assist community leaders and support health workers (HWs) in the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The review highlights the improved treatment coverage where there are women CDDs, the benefits and lessons from the work of CDDs, their long-term engagement, and the challenges they face in healthcare delivery. It underscores the value of utilising the CDD model for strong community engagement and recommends the model, with some review, to hasten the achievement of the NTD 2030 goal and assist the health system cope with evolving epidemics and other challenges. We propose that, based on the unprecedented progress made in the control of NTDs directly linked to community engagement and contributions of CDDs "foot soldiers," they deserve regional and global recognition. We also suggest that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international stakeholders promote policy and guidance for countries to adapt this model for the elimination of NTDs and to strengthen national health services. This will enhance the accomplishment of some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15 3 e0009088 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Uche V Amazigo Stephen G A Leak Honorat G M Zoure Chukwu Okoronkwo Maimouna Diop Ly Sunday Isiyaku Andy Crump Joseph C Okeibunor Boakye Boatin Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in rural, often difficult-to-access areas, poorly served by national health services. Here, we review the contributions of 4.8 million community-directed distributors (CDDs) of medicines over 2 decades in 146,000 communities in 27 sub-Saharan African countries to control or eliminate onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF). We examine their role in the control of other NTDs, malaria, HIV/AIDS interventions, immunisation campaigns, and support to overstretched health service personnel. We are of the opinion that CDDs as community selected, trained, and experienced "foot soldiers," some of whom were involved in the Ebola outbreak responses at the community level in Liberia, if retrained, can assist community leaders and support health workers (HWs) in the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The review highlights the improved treatment coverage where there are women CDDs, the benefits and lessons from the work of CDDs, their long-term engagement, and the challenges they face in healthcare delivery. It underscores the value of utilising the CDD model for strong community engagement and recommends the model, with some review, to hasten the achievement of the NTD 2030 goal and assist the health system cope with evolving epidemics and other challenges. We propose that, based on the unprecedented progress made in the control of NTDs directly linked to community engagement and contributions of CDDs "foot soldiers," they deserve regional and global recognition. We also suggest that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international stakeholders promote policy and guidance for countries to adapt this model for the elimination of NTDs and to strengthen national health services. This will enhance the accomplishment of some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Uche V Amazigo Stephen G A Leak Honorat G M Zoure Chukwu Okoronkwo Maimouna Diop Ly Sunday Isiyaku Andy Crump Joseph C Okeibunor Boakye Boatin |
author_facet |
Uche V Amazigo Stephen G A Leak Honorat G M Zoure Chukwu Okoronkwo Maimouna Diop Ly Sunday Isiyaku Andy Crump Joseph C Okeibunor Boakye Boatin |
author_sort |
Uche V Amazigo |
title |
Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
title_short |
Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
title_full |
Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
title_fullStr |
Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Community-directed distributors-The "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
title_sort |
community-directed distributors-the "foot soldiers" in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 https://doaj.org/article/e21e6253ddd942f7b055b90318ac0258 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Iss 3, p e0009088 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 https://doaj.org/article/e21e6253ddd942f7b055b90318ac0258 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009088 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e0009088 |
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1766346337505247232 |