13 April 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.

Vector Control

  • Vector control products targeting outdoor malaria transmission – Link

Diagnostic testing and treatment

  • Safe drugs with high potential to block malaria transmission revealed by a spleen-mimetic screening – Link

Data

  • The roadblocks to predicting where malaria will strike – Link

Immunisation

  • Health ministry to accelerate polio vaccination rate – Link
  • Beyond the numbers: the real-world impact of the malaria vaccine in Kenya – Link
  • WHO targets unvaccinated children as top priority for polio eradication – Link
  • Eradicating Polio in the World – Link

Elimination progress

  • Deloitte: Nigeria could gain $19bn by eliminating tropical diseases – Link

Outbreak

  • Costa Rica reports falciparum malaria outbreak in Limón province – Link
  • Malawi: Polio outbreak DREF n° MDRMW016 – Final Report – Link
  • Update on Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Outbreaks — Worldwide, January 2021–December 2022 – Link

Climate and Health

  • Climate change: we must act now to secure a sustainable, healthy future for all – Link
  • Protection from climate change requires strong health systems – Link
  • WHO warns climate change causing surge in mosquito-borne diseases – Link
  • Climate’s clear connect: Africa needs to come together to curb its health crises fanned by global warming – Link

Other

  • Impact of short-term discontinuation of ivermectin-based chemoprevention on onchocerciasis transmission in endemic settings with long history of mass drug administration – Link
  • Cameroon says River Blindness still a major health issue – Link
  • Acceptability of test and treat with doxycycline against Onchocerciasis in an area of persistent transmission in Massangam Health District, Cameroon – Link
  • Ghana first to approve Oxford’s ‘world changer’ malaria vaccine – Link
  • Ministry of Health and child care unveils new strategy to eradicate neglected tropical diseases – Link
  • Neglected tropical diseases risk correlates with poverty and early ecosystem destruction – Link
  • The efforts of Mohammed Bin Zayed left a bright mark in the fight against tropical diseases – Link
  • Determinants of malaria infections among children in refugee settlements in Uganda during 2018–2019 – Link
  • The END Fund and County First Ladies Association announce collaboration to advance NTD control and elimination in Kenya: – Link
  • Genotyping of Anopheles mosquito blood meals reveals nonrandom human host selection: implications for human-to-mosquito Plasmodium falciparum transmission – Link
  • How socioeconomic status affected the access to health facilities and malaria diagnosis in children under five years: findings from 19 sub-Saharan African countries – Link
  • Celebrating 75 years of commitment to public health in Africa – Link
  • Stronger Together: Evidence for collaborative action on neglected tropical diseases (NTD’s) from COUNTDOWN consortium – Link | Link to Paper

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