Keeping up the momentum to eliminate schistosomiasis in Zanzibar

Health experts met between 17-20 January to discuss schistosomiasis elimination and neglected tropical disease (NTD) management in Zanzibar.

Representatives from the Zanzibar NTD Programme, various national government departments, the World Health Organization, The Natural History Museum, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) and The Schistosomiasis Consortium for Operational Research and Evaluation (SCORE) were in attendance.

The meeting started with a 2-day evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded SCORE project on the islands, which has been running for the past 5 years. This project aimed to evaluate what additional interventions (beyond routine treatment) worked best to control schistosomiasis and lead to its elimination. Elimination initiatives included, but were not limited to, snail control and health education to promote behaviour modification.

The rest of the week was dedicated to developing a new 5-year strategic plan for NTD management in Zanzibar, which included schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, and trachoma among other NTDs. To maintain the momentum towards eliminating schistosomiasis, the representatives discussed the feasibility of implementing key learnings from the SCORE project.

“As the Ministry of Health has already demonstrated the ability to control schistosomiasis in the population, this is quite an exciting time for Zanzibar, as there is a real possibility of achieving elimination,” says Elizabeth Hollenberg, SCI Programme Manager for Zanzibar.

Dr Narcis Kabatereine, Africa Capacity Building Adviser, SCI

Dr Narcis Kabatereine from SCI, who facilitated the Strategic Planning meeting, commented: “I am particularly excited by the opportunity given to me to contribute to updating the Zanzibar 5-year strategic NTD masterplan. Zanzibar has a long experience in NTD control, particularly schistosomiasis. Together with the availability of extremely hardworking local and SCI-based programme leaders, I sincerely believe we shall produce an excellent job.”