2016 and beyond: who does what?
Work is underway to ensure that national governments and other partners will safeguard the progress made towards eliminating onchocerciasis and continue control activities after APOC’s closure in 2015.
National governments
Governments of affected countries will:
- continue to provide sustainable financing for the delivery of ivermectin and/or a macrofilaricide to peripheral health facilities and to supervise community-directed distribution of the drug
- ensure continuing supervision and monitoring of all drug distribution projects
- ensure that onchocerciasis control and surveillance activities are fully integrated into their health systems, and promote co-implementation of other interventions (distribution of nets for malaria control, distribution of vitamin A etc.) with community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI).
- continue to train their health system staff in determining where, when and how to stop treatment of onchocerciasis.
The Multi-Disease Surveillance Centre (MDSC)
The MDSC will:
- strengthen the capacity of countries to conduct surveillance and will alert them to imminent risks of recrudescence of onchocerciasis
- support and strengthen country surveillance activities within the national health systems.
Non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs)
NGDOs will:
- continue to provide financial and technical support to community-directed treatment projects wherever necessary to ensure complete elimination or eradication of onchocerciasis.
World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO country offices will:
- be responsible for oversight, monitoring and evaluation of onchocerciasis control activities
- ensure oversight of ivermectin procurement and inventory maintenance in all concerned countries
- assist countries in mobilizing funds for deployment of a macrofilaricide, in the likely event that such a drug will be available
- be responsible for oversight of onchocerciasis control activities integrated into their national surveillance systems.
Other partners
The neglected tropical disease groups and other partners will continue to assist countries in mobilizing funds and promoting co-implementation of multiple interventions.