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The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Act to End NTD | West Program seeks to support disease-endemic countries to control and/or eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) using preventive chemotherapy through proven, cost-effective public health interventions. Act to End NTDs | West will continue to support national NTD programs (NTDP) in their advancement towards global NTD elimination goals and leverage drug donations to control the NTDs that cannot be eliminated yet. Over the next eight years (2018–2026), Act to End NTDs | West will:
- Support program countries to treat communities suffering from lymphatic filariasis (LF) and trachoma, document successes, and verify disease elimination as a public health problem via the World Health Organization (WHO) dossier process.
- Support Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Togo, Benin, Mali, and Senegal in meeting the WHO requirements to verify the elimination of onchocerciasis transmission, including dossier development and submission.
- Support sustainable service delivery in the countries by leveraging domestic and other resources (funding, policy, existing service delivery platforms) for NTDs targeted for control (schistosomiasis/SCH, soil- transmitted helminthiasis/STH, and in some countries, onchocerciasis).
- Support countries in mainstreaming NTD programming into their national health systems.
- Add NTDP interventions into the platforms of related sectors— education; malaria; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); maternal and child health (MCH); and nutrition—to extend program reach.
The FHI 360-led team will use its NTD expertise and implementation experience in Cameroon, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Senegal to help these countries eliminate and/or control NTDs using proven, cost-effective interventions. Act to End NTDs | West has the following intermediate (IR) and end results:
- Result 1: Elimination of LF, trachoma, and where feasible, onchocerciasis in Africa.
- IR 1: Increased mass drug administration (MDA) coverage among at-risk populations in endemic countries
- Result 2: Sustainable national NTD programs (NTDPs)
- IR 2: Strengthened country environment for NTDP implementation and management
- Result 3: Robust country capacity to implement and maintain ongoing MDA and disease surveillance for STH, SCH, and in some cases, onchocerciasis
- IR 3: Sustained MDA coverage among at-risk populations in endemic countries
Act to End NTDs | West will help each country’s NTDP and health ministry (MOH) staff to take full ownership of its NTD response, leading to sustainable NTD mainstreaming. Each country will have a tailored action plan that reflects its local context, NTDP capacity, historical data, and opportunities for coordination with nutrition, malaria, WASH, MCH, and school health interventions.
