Elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis as public health problem

Overview

First countries to eliminate Human African Trypanosomiasis as public health problem: Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is caused by trypanosome parasites transmitted by tsetse flies in subSaharan Africa. Two subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei cause disease: T. b. gambiense in West and Central Africa, and T. b. rhodesiense in East Africa.

This life-threatening disease mostly affects poor rural populations, causing substantial harm. Transmission of gambiense HAT can be interrupted by depleting the parasite reservoirs through systematic detection and treatment of infected people and can be complemented with the reduction of tsetse populations in contact with humans.

At the turn of the century large numbers of cases in the order of 30 000 per year were reported. In 2001, WHO launched an initiative to reinforce surveillance and control activities, and a progressive drop in incidence took place in the ensuing years. In 2013, WHO launched the neglected tropical diseases road map where HAT was targeted for elimination as public health problem. Since 2018 fewer than 1000 annual cases are reported, even with maintained efforts of active and passive screening (around 2.5 million people screened per year).