"Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted essential health services, including those provided by national neglected tropical disease (NTD) programs. Most mass drug administration (MDA) programs were postponed for 6-12 months following World Health Organization guidance released in April 2020 to temporarily ha...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:eef66b4c3519403688528c9ee479fbc7 2024-09-09T19:27:06+00:00 "Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. Tikhala Itaye Sultani Hadley Matendechero Jean Bosco Mbonigaba Fikre Seife Gebretsadik Tuduetso L Molefi Gilbert Baayenda Eugene Ruberanziza Karsor K Kollie January Zilabumba Massitan Dembele Kebede Deribe Elia Muhima Adrien Maria Rebollo Polo 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368 https://doaj.org/article/eef66b4c3519403688528c9ee479fbc7 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368&type=printable https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368 https://doaj.org/article/eef66b4c3519403688528c9ee479fbc7 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 17, Iss 6, p e0011368 (2023) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368 2024-08-05T17:49:49Z The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted essential health services, including those provided by national neglected tropical disease (NTD) programs. Most mass drug administration (MDA) programs were postponed for 6-12 months following World Health Organization guidance released in April 2020 to temporarily halt NTD programs and launch necessary COVID-19 precautions. While NTD-endemic countries have since resumed MDA activities, it is critical to understand implementers' perspectives on the key challenges and opportunities for program relaunch, as these insights are critical for maximizing gains towards disease control and elimination during public health emergencies. Using data from using online surveys and focus group discussions, this mixed-methods study sought perspectives from Ministry of Health NTD Program Managers and implementing partners from non-governmental organizations working in sub-Saharan Africa. Data analysis revealed that findings converged around several main themes: disruptions for MDA programs included resource shortages due to prioritization of pandemic response, challenges adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, and community hesitancy due to coronavirus transmission fears. Identified solutions for restarting MDA programs focused on adapting intervention delivery and packaging to minimize disease transmission, embracing technology to optimize intervention planning and delivery, and identifying opportunities to promote program integration between pandemic response strategies and NTD campaign delivery. Findings identifies key challenges due to disruptions to NTD program delivery and provide strategic recommendations for endemic countries to build resilient programs that can continue to perform during and beyond global pandemics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 17 6 e0011368 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
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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 Tikhala Itaye Sultani Hadley Matendechero Jean Bosco Mbonigaba Fikre Seife Gebretsadik Tuduetso L Molefi Gilbert Baayenda Eugene Ruberanziza Karsor K Kollie January Zilabumba Massitan Dembele Kebede Deribe Elia Muhima Adrien Maria Rebollo Polo "Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted essential health services, including those provided by national neglected tropical disease (NTD) programs. Most mass drug administration (MDA) programs were postponed for 6-12 months following World Health Organization guidance released in April 2020 to temporarily halt NTD programs and launch necessary COVID-19 precautions. While NTD-endemic countries have since resumed MDA activities, it is critical to understand implementers' perspectives on the key challenges and opportunities for program relaunch, as these insights are critical for maximizing gains towards disease control and elimination during public health emergencies. Using data from using online surveys and focus group discussions, this mixed-methods study sought perspectives from Ministry of Health NTD Program Managers and implementing partners from non-governmental organizations working in sub-Saharan Africa. Data analysis revealed that findings converged around several main themes: disruptions for MDA programs included resource shortages due to prioritization of pandemic response, challenges adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, and community hesitancy due to coronavirus transmission fears. Identified solutions for restarting MDA programs focused on adapting intervention delivery and packaging to minimize disease transmission, embracing technology to optimize intervention planning and delivery, and identifying opportunities to promote program integration between pandemic response strategies and NTD campaign delivery. Findings identifies key challenges due to disruptions to NTD program delivery and provide strategic recommendations for endemic countries to build resilient programs that can continue to perform during and beyond global pandemics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tikhala Itaye Sultani Hadley Matendechero Jean Bosco Mbonigaba Fikre Seife Gebretsadik Tuduetso L Molefi Gilbert Baayenda Eugene Ruberanziza Karsor K Kollie January Zilabumba Massitan Dembele Kebede Deribe Elia Muhima Adrien Maria Rebollo Polo |
author_facet |
Tikhala Itaye Sultani Hadley Matendechero Jean Bosco Mbonigaba Fikre Seife Gebretsadik Tuduetso L Molefi Gilbert Baayenda Eugene Ruberanziza Karsor K Kollie January Zilabumba Massitan Dembele Kebede Deribe Elia Muhima Adrien Maria Rebollo Polo |
author_sort |
Tikhala Itaye |
title |
"Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. |
title_short |
"Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. |
title_full |
"Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. |
title_fullStr |
"Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. |
title_full_unstemmed |
"Our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": Resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after COVID-19 implementation delays. |
title_sort |
"our interventions are still here to support communities during the pandemic": resuming mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases after covid-19 implementation delays. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368 https://doaj.org/article/eef66b4c3519403688528c9ee479fbc7 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 17, Iss 6, p e0011368 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368&type=printable https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368 https://doaj.org/article/eef66b4c3519403688528c9ee479fbc7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011368 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
6 |
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e0011368 |
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