COVID-19 UPDATE

Effects on NTD programs

NTD programme activities have been on hold.

Professor Louis-Albert Tchuem Tchuenté has given insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national programme of schistosomiasis control and elimination in Cameroon. The Government of Cameroon put in place several measures in response to COVID-19 including the closure of all public and private schools and universities. The 2020 deworming campaign and related M&E and Female Genital Schistosomiasis operational research project have been postponed. One of the top priorities is to keep and revitalize the momentum on the elimination of schistosomiasis and other NTDs through advocacy and stakeholder engagement. Main challenges include how to increase treatment coverage and catch-up treatment and the reorganization and rescheduling of operational studies without impacting the deworming campaigns and vice versa when restrictions are lifted. The schistosomiasis team are using this period to review all achievements in SCH and STH in Cameroon, finalize the 2003-2019 progress report on SCH-STH, develop the new 2021-2030 strategic plan, revise and optimize the 2020 workplan taking into account challenges and lessons learnt from past years. The team is also working with regional and district teams to optimize micro-plans and system for collecting deworming data electronically through the national District and Health Information System. 

General effect

Since middle of March, schools were close, health campaign in communities and schools were postponed till September.