12 July 2023 – Below we feature a compilation of headlines, scientific articles, and technical reports on innovations, R&D and elimination progress towards polio, malaria, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis. We will be publishing these updates bi-weekly and hope they are useful.

Immunisation

  • WHO calls for a high-quality supplementary vaccination campaign to boost polio immunity in under 15 children in Malawi – Link
  • Africa’s polio certification commission calls for urgent action to bolster vaccination – Link
  • Zimbabwe conducts third round of polio vaccination campaign – Link
  • Four day long Polio vaccination campaign launched in Afghanistan – Link
  • Gavi green-lights new jab in global fight against polio – Link
  • 18 million doses of first-ever malaria vaccine allocated to 12 African countries for 2023–2025: Gavi, WHO and UNICEF – Link

Surveillance

  • Evaluation of community-based vector surveillance system for routine entomological monitoring under low malaria vector densities and high bed net coverage in western Kenya – Link

Elimination progress

  • Progress toward Poliomyelitis eradication — Worldwide, January 2021–March 2023 – Link 
  • East Africa has made great strides in combatting neglected diseases – Link
  • Costa Rica, Nicaragua, PAHO to eliminate malaria in cross-border area – Link 
  • Towards polio eradication – Link

Climate and Health

  • NIH-wide climate and health initiative applauded by advisors to NIH Director – Link 
  • Climate zones are a key component of the heterogeneous presentation of malaria and should be added as a malariometric for the planning of malaria elimination – Link

Other

  • Enhancing onchocerciasis elimination program management: A biological approach to deciding when to begin Stop Mass Drug Administration activities – Link
  • Ivermectin and doxycycline treatments against Onchocerciasis: Adaptations and impact among semi-nomadic population in Massangam Health District, Cameroon – Link
  • Socio-economic and environmental factors associated with high lymphatic filariasis morbidity prevalence distribution in Bangladesh – Link
  • Potential hidden Plasmodium vivax malaria reservoirs from low parasitemia Duffy-negative Ethiopians: Molecular evidence – Link
  • Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) 2023 – Link
  • Donors making a difference: building stronger health systems – Link
  • Leadership Award: Speak Up Africa rewards sustainable development leaders in Africa – Link
  • Perceptions of the roles, impact, challenges and needs of community drug distributors in the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases in difficult-to-access communities in Ghana – Link
  • ECOWAS recognised for its leadership in eliminating neglected tropical diseases in Africa – Link
  • WHO Director-General discusses priorities on traditional, complementary and integrative healthcare with civil society – Link
  • We must not lose momentum against neglected tropical diseases – Link 
  • Seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Africa and China’s upgraded role as a contributor: a scoping review – Link
  • The use of rectal artesunate as a pre-referral treatment for severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria – Link

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