Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May 8;115(5):441-446.
doi: 10.1093/trstmh/traa180.

Adapting an integrated neglected tropical disease programme in response to COVID-19

Amy Clark  1 , Becks Hill  1 , Ron Bannerman  1 , Leah Wohlgemuth  1 , Jennifer Burrill  2 , David Agyemang  3 , Chantelle Genovezos  1
Affiliations

Adapting an integrated neglected tropical disease programme in response to COVID-19

Amy Clark et al. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic hit at a time when the Ascend West and Central Africa programme was nearing the end of its first year of a 3-y programme. This article reflects on key lessons learnt from the rapid adaptation of an integrated neglected tropical disease (NTD) programme to support COVID-19 responses in 11 countries. It shares the experiences of adopting a flexible and directive approach, leveraging the NTD network and relationships, and working in collaboration with multiple ministry departments, commercial sector partners and the UK Foreign Commonwealth Development Office to repurpose over £6 million of budget.

Keywords: COVID-19; behaviour change; community engagement; community health workers; coronavirus disease; risk communication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Ascend geographies and COVID-19 activities.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Example of behaviour change communication asset in Nigeria - ‘Spread the truth, not the virus’.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sightsavers, Ascend. Fighting disease in West and Central Africa . Available at https://www.sightsavers.org/programmes/ascend/ [accessed 26 November 2020].
    1. Sightsavers. Health programme exceeds several first-year targets, September2020. Available at https://www.sightsavers.org/news/2020/09/health-programme-exceeds-first-... [accessed 26 Nov-ember 2020].
    1. WHO. COVID-19: WHO issues interim guidance for implementation of NTD programmes , 1 April 2020. Available at https://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/news/COVID19-WHO-interim-guidance... [accessed 26 November 2020].
    1. World Health Organization, COVID-19 SPRP Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response, 22 May 2020 , https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/draft-operationalplanning-guidan... [accessed 5 October 2020].
    1. John Hopkins Corona Virus Resource Center. Available at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/ [accessed 5 October 2020].

Publication types