Ethiopia Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted helminths control programme; Progress, and prospect

Soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis are among seventeen WHO prioritized neglected tropical diseases that infect humans. These parasitic infections can be treated using single-dose, safe and often donated drugs. Ethiopia successfully mapped the distribution of these infections nationwide. According to the mapping there are an estimated 38.3 million people living in schistosomiasis endemic areas, and 81 million in STH endemic areas. The Federal Ministry of Health successfully scaled up STH and Schistosomiasis intervention in endemic areas and treated over 19 million individuals in 2015. The Ministry of Health has made tremendous effort to establish SCH/STH/NTD program in the health system which helped to map majority of the woredas and initiate nationwide intervention. The National control programme designed to achieve elimination for those diseases as a major public health problem by 2020 and aim to attain transmission break by 2025. The programme focuses on reaching those school-aged children who are not attending school, integration between NTD programmes, and further collaboration with the WASH sector.