Large-scale treatment campaigns conducted by the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Yemen have reached well over 9 million people, including children, suffering from schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) and soil-transmitted helminthiases (intestinal worms).
The six-year project – known as the Yemen Schistosomiasis Control Project – started in 2010 and focuses on control of the disease throughout the country. The project is supported by a US$ 25 million grant from the World Bank. In accordance with WHO recommendations on control of the disease, the strategic approach involves large-scale distribution of praziquantel to individuals living in endemic areas.
An early mid-term review of the project was concluded last week at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It was attended by delegations from Yemen, including the Deputy Minister of Health and the Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, officials from the World Bank and representatives of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative of Imperial College London.
Several aspects of the project’s implementation were reviewed for period 2010–2012, including service delivery, impact evaluation, financial management and drug procurement. Delegates agreed to include a school health and a trachoma elimination component to the project from 2013.
WHO provides technical advice to Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population, which is also supported by the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.
Each individual targeted for schistosomiasis treatment also receives a tablet of albendazole or mebendazole to treat soil-transmitted helminthiases. Praziquantel is procured through WHO and albendazole or mebendazole are donated by GSK and Johnson & Johnson, respectively, through WHO.