The establishment of a surveillance system to monitor the global patterns of drug efficacy and the spread of anthelmintic resistance in STH programs
Scope
We will evaluate a surveillance system to monitor drug efficacy and the emergence of anthelmintic resistance in five to seven endemic countries in Africa, Asia and Latin-America. To this end, we will apply the World Health Organization guidelines for monitoring drug efficacy and include any additional diagnostic tools that work package 1 will put forward.
Since it will be a challenge to set up a nationwide surveillance system, we will first focus on those districts/provinces within the selected countries that have:
- ongoing mass drug administration programs with high coverage,
- moderate to high STH prevalence, and
- well-trained laboratory staff and a well-equipped lab.
This initial approach in confined geographical areas will allow us to gain insights into the technical and financial resources needed to set up a surveillance system before a nationwide surveillance system is rolled out.
At this stage, we are assessing what countries to include in this part of the project.
