ASTAWOL (EDCTP)

Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) and Onchocerciasis are 2 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) targeted for elimination by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Globally, 200 million people are infected with these filarial diseases, which have strong links with poverty and are associated with significant clinical morbidity. Morbidity associated with these diseases is among the leading causes of global disability, resulting in economic loss of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Progress in relation to control and elimination has been made in some parts of the world such as Latin America, but less so in Africa due to the inability to control vectors involved in transmission and the large endemic geographical areas. Nevertheless, mass drug administration (MDA) programmes have been largely effective and have considerably reduced transmission making the goal to eliminate these diseases feasible. Still, there exist problematic areas in Africa referred to as ‘Hotspots’, where there have been reports of resistance to ivermectin (IVM) and where either IVM and or diethylcarbamazine (DEC) cannot be administered due to co-endemicity with Loa loa infection. Therefore, the development of new drugs and or improvement in existing drug regimens is urgently needed to help achieve the WHO elimination goals for LF and onchocerciasis. .