Measuring the control and elmination of neglected tropical diseases in Africa.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, researchers are mapping where parasitic worm infections are shrinking—and where they are stubbornly holding on—to determine whether mass drug treatments are working or being wasted. These neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including soil-transmitted helminths and lymphatic filariasis, infect hundreds of millions of people, causing chronic illness, disability, and poverty. Current surveillance is patchy: many countries lack the data to know whether elimination campaigns are succeeding or failing. This project fills that gap by combining geospatial mapping, computer simulations, field studies, and cost-effectiveness analysis to build a rigorous, evidence-based framework for measuring control and elimination. If successful, the work will give public health programmes a practical tool to decide where to continue mass drug administration, where to switch to targeted surveillance, and how to adapt as diagnostic tools improve. It will also help funders allocate limited resources more efficiently—potentially saving millions of pounds by avoiding unnecessary treatment campaigns in areas that have already eliminated the infection. The framework is designed to be adaptable to other tropical diseases, extending its impact beyond the two infections studied.