Deworming Innovation Fund
The Deworming Innovation Fund’s audacious goal is to prove that it is possible to stop the spread of schistosomiasis and intestinal worms.
Overview
For decades, the standard approach to treating these parasitic diseases has been to conduct regular mass drug administrations, where everyone at risk of the disease receives treatment. Mass drug administrations have been enormously beneficial in reducing the prevalence of infections, but they have limitations and cannot successfully stop the transmission of the parasite alone.
The Deworming Innovation Fund was launched in 2020 to pilot innovative techniques to find solutions to stop the spread of these parasitic worms in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe, where 80 million people are still at risk of these diseases. The fund has:
- Conducted precision mapping of the diseases to find epicenters of spread in order to focus resources in areas of the highest need.
- Expanded treatment from children to adults, a crucial step to ensure adults will not re-infect children.
- Combined deworming with nutrition programming in order to reach pre-school age children who are typically overlooked for treatment.
- Reach pregnant women with deworming medication to prevent anemia that can impact the health of the fetus.
- Developed Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene programs to prevent infections.
THE DEWORMING INNOVATION FUND’S IMPACT
230m
treatments provided
241,000
health workers trained
36M
people treated in 2023
Beyond Treatment: One Family’s Journey with schistosomiasis
Why focus on parasitic infections?
Funding deworming treatment is one of the most cost-effective social investments. These parasitic worms affect nearly a quarter of the world’s population. When living inside humans these parasites cause symptoms like nausea, anemia, intense physical weakness, and stunted growth.
Studies show that children who receive deworming medication miss less school and girls are more likely to graduate secondary school. In fact, overtime, children who receive deworming treatment earn more money over the course of their lifetime than their peers who do not receive treatment. Ending intestinal worms and schistosomiasis in the four countries of focus could remove a large barrier to economic growth and add more than $5B USD to their economies by 2040, according to a study in the Economic Intelligence.
Rwanda’s blueprint shows elimination is possible.
Before the creation of Rwanda’s neglected tropical disease program in 2007, there had been little research on two debilitating parasites running rampant throughout the country: intestinal worms and schistosomiasis. Although the government knew that intestinal worm infections were the second leading cause of health center visits, there was minimal understanding of the total number of people suffering from these infections throughout the country.
A study in 2008 discovered there was a heavy burden of both parasites in many areas of the country with prevalence of intestinal worm infection as high as 95 percent in many districts and schistosomiasis prevalence was as high as 69.5 percent across the surveyed schools.
The Rwandan government quickly expanded its mass drug administration with support from the END fund to reach people at risk of infection. By 2019, the country began financing 100 percent of the cost of administering mass treatment campaigns, ensuring the sustainability of the program.
Rwanda provides treatment for schistosomiasis at the community level to school age children and adults living or working in areas that are at a high risk of the disease, ensuring that resources are effectively used. This differs from past campaigns that used to target just school age children, the group considered to be at the highest risk of long term damage because of these parasites. This holistic approach ensures that the cycle of transmission can be stopped for good.
As a result of Rwanda’s efforts, supported by the END Fund and the Deworming Innovation Fund, excitingly, schistosomiasis has reached a threshold of elimination as a public health problem. Less than 1 percent of the population was found to have a “heavy” infection in 97 percent of villages tested, according to a remapping survey in 2020.
Other Funds
