Discussion

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new roadmap to reduce the burden due to Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the period 2021-2030. Prior to this, the WHO initiated a period of consultation and convened a meeting in April 2019 with NTD modellers to inform the goals of the roadmap. Modellers were asked to assess the technical feasibility and the challenges associated with reaching goals for the control and elimination of NTDs during the proposed time-framework. The goals comprise a spectrum of end-points, from control to elimination of transmission. Our groups contributed with modelling insights for onchocerciasis (ear-marked for elimination--interruption-- of transmission), Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis, and Chagas disease (indicated for control). In this talk, I will discuss the role that modelling played in informing the new WHO roadmap. The discussion will centre around the 3 pillars of the recent roadmap, namely, acceleration of progress (through alternative and complementary intervention strategies); cross-cutting themes (e.g. the need for better access to diagnosis and treatment), and increased endemic country engagement (through collaboration between stakeholders, programme managers, endemic communities, field and quantitative epidemiologists, and NTD modellers) to reach the SDGs by 2030. The impact of COVID-19 on epidemiological trends for onchocerciasis will also be presented and the relative merits of mitigation strategies to help countries get back on track to achieve elimination goals will be discussed.