USAID Publishes Technical Brief to Accompany New WHO Morbidity Management Tool for Lymphatic Filariasis Care

In March 2021, the USAID Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Division and its Act to End NTDs | West and | East Programs, respectively managed by FHI 360 and RTI International, published a technical brief to complement World Health Organization’s (WHO) publication and share the experiences and key learnings of 12 National NTD Programs on their use of these tools.

The new WHO resource, a second edition of the Lymphatic Filariasis MMDP Aide-Memoire for National Programme Managers, also published in March 2021, aims to reach program managers, healthcare workers, academic researchers, and other partners with the tools necessary for sustained provision of the essential package of care for lymphatic filariasis (LF).

The WHO estimates that 40 million people globally suffer from debilitating morbidity and disability caused by LF. Many experience swelling of the limbs and breasts, termed lymphedema or in its most severe form, elephantiasis. Some men suffer from swelling of the scrotum, known as hydrocele. Without proper care and treatment, the morbidity caused by LF can significantly affect the overall health of individuals, impair families’ ability to provide for themselves, and through lost productivity, even harm communities and nations. 

The WHO also provides web annexes with the new resource, such as critical methods and tools including the Situation Analysis Tool and Direct Inspection Protocol, that have been developed to help countries quantify the estimated number of LF patients and gather information to help plan for and assess LF Morbidity Management and Disability Prevention (MMDP) services. 

Read USAID’s Leave No One Behind blog post to learn more about how LF morbidity affects peoples’ lives.