Since its early spread in early 2020, the disease caused by the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused mass disruptions to health services. These have included interruptions to programs that aimed to prevent, control, and eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) released interim guidelines recommending the temporary cessation of mass drug administration (MDA), community-based surveys, and case detection, while encouraging continuation of morbidity management and vector control where possible. Over the course of the following months, national programs and implementing partners contributed to COVID-19 response efforts, while also beginning to plan for resumption of NTD control activities. To understand the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for maximizing continuity of disease control during public health emergencies, we sought perspectives from Nigeria and Guinea on the process of restarting NTD control efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through semistructured interviews with individuals involved with NTD control at the local and national levels, we identified key themes and common perspectives between the 2 countries, as well as observations that were specific to each. Overall, interviewees stressed the challenges posed by COVID-19 interruptions, particularly with respect to delays to activities and related knock-on impacts, such as drug expiry and prolonged elimination timelines, as well as concerns related to funding. However, respondents in both countries also highlighted the benefits of a formal risk assessment approach, particularly in terms of encouraging information sharing and increasing coordination and advocacy. Recommendations included ensuring greater availability of historical data to allow better monitoring of how future emergencies affect NTD control progress; continuing to use risk assessment approaches in the future; and identifying mechanisms for sharing lessons learned and innovations between countries as a means of advancing postpandemic health systems and disease control capacity strengthening.
Introduction Malaria is the leading cause of consultation in Guinea health facilities. During pregnancy, it remains a major health concern causing considerable risks for mother, fetus, and newborn. However, little is known about the epidemiology of malaria among pregnant women in Guinea. We aimed to provide information on malaria-associated factors in parturients. Methods It was a cross-sectional survey in two regional hospitals and two district hospitals. 1000 parturients and their newborns were surveyed. All patients were interviewed, and thick and thin blood smears were examined. To determine the predictive factors of malaria in parturients, the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) was first performed by using peripheral and placental malaria as dependent variables and sociodemographic and antenatal characteristics as independent variables; then, explanatory profile variables or clusters from these trees were included in the logistic regression models. Results We found 157 (15.8%) and 148 (14.8%) cases of peripheral and placental malaria, respectively. The regular use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) before delivery was 53.8%, and only 35.5% used sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine doses ≥3. Factors significantly associated with malaria were as follows: women from Forécariah and Guéckédou who did not regularly use LLINs and accomplished less than four antenatal care visits (ANC <4) and primigravid and paucigravid women who did not regularly use LLINs. Similarly, the odds of having malaria infection were significantly higher among women who had not regularly used LLINs and among primigravid and paucigravid women who had regularly used LLINs compared to multigravida women who had regularly used LLINs. Conclusion This study showed that pregnant women remain particularly vulnerable to malaria; therefore, strengthening antenatal care visit strategies by emphasizing on promoting the use of LLINs and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, sexual education about early pregnancies, and family or community support during first pregnancies might be helpful.
A hydrocoele surgery facility assessment tool (HSFAT) was developed to assess the readiness of hydrocoele surgery services in health facilities prior to implementation of hydrocoele surgical campaigns for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF). A first version of the tool was piloted in Bangladesh, Malawi and Nepal in 2019, then, following feedback from country programme managers, a second version of the tool was rolled out across countries implementing hydrocoele surgery in the Accelerating the Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (Ascend) West and Central Africa Programme, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Niger and Nigeria. The HSFAT assessed facilities across 10 domains: background information, essential amenities, emergency patient transfer, laboratory capacity, surgical procedures and trained staff, infection prevention, non-disposable basic equipment, disposable basic equipment, essential medicines and current hydrocoele practices. The HSFAT results highlight key areas for improvement in different countries and can be used to develop a quality improvement plan, which may include actions with agreed deadlines to improve the readiness and quality of hydrocoele surgery services provided by the health facility, prior to implementation of surgical campaigns and assist country programmes to achieve the dossier requirements set out by the World Health Organization for the elimination of LF.
Background The neglected tropical disease (NTD) sector is adapting to the uncertain circumstances of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The development of the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Action (RAMA) tool was driven by partners of the programme Accelerating the Sustainable Control and Elimination of NTDs (hereafter called Ascend) to enable countries to recommence NTD activities following the World Health Organization advisories of April and July 2020. This article explores the advantages of the RAMA process for NTD delivery. Methods The analysis used interview transcripts with NTD practitioners in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria and results from the monitoring of compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures in Nigeria. Results Three themes emerged from the results: adaptability and innovation, collaboration and government ownership and preparedness. Conclusions The advantages of the RAMA tool suggest its importance in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 during NTD delivery. There is the potential for the tool to be adapted for use throughout future pandemics.
Introduction: Ebola virus disease is one of the most serious viral diseases known to man. It belongs to the filovirus family, with a case-fatality rate of 25% to 90%. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychosocial and health impact of Ebola virus disease on people who have been cured. Method:This was a descriptive study of transversal type extending over a period of 3 months and focused on people cured of the Ebola virus disease of Forecariah prefecture.Results: During the study period, we recorded 114 people cured of the Ebola virus disease in Forecariah prefecture, among whom we interviewed 101 people cured of Ebola virus disease (89%). The socio-demographic characteristics of these healed people were: those of cures whose age ranged between 27-37 years with a frequency of 32.7% and extremes of 5-55 years. There was a female predominance with a sex ratio of 0.80 for women. Malaria was the most dominant antecedent. Social withdrawal 89.1%, moral pain 72.2% and strong sense of guilt 45.5% were the most common psychiatric symptoms in cured people. The dominant somatic symptoms found were headache 36.6%; while defamation 82.1% was the most dominant type of stigma.
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