Access program
ADOPT program
As part of the overall Access strategy, the Consortium has executed an implementation program, called ADOPT1, in the first African countries. With partners from schistosome-endemic countries taking a leading role, the ADOPT program has helped to prepare for the large-scale delivery of the new pediatric treatment to treat schistosomiasis in preschool-age children.
To this end, the program has considered aspects ranging from social mobilization and acceptance by the communities, to the assessment of existing drug delivery strategies and the establishment of monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
The respective Ministries of Health from Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, and Uganda have led the key activities related to identifying and testing the most adequate platforms for treatment. This is helping to build local health system capacity to treat very young children against schistosomiasis and other NTDs. Various PhD students have been trained within the program to allow for subsequent long-term follow-up and implementation of the ADOPT research into national programmatic approaches.
The ADOPT program was launched in April 2021 for a five-year term.
_____
1 Adoption of Levo-Praziquantel 150mg for schistosomiasis by endemic countries