Schistosomiasis Hotspots Webinar

Why understanding morbidity hotspots is needed to achieve new WHO NTD road map targets

Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: A road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021–2030, published by the World Health Organization in January 2021, targeted schistosomiasis for elimination as a public health problem (EPHP) by 2030.

The road map defined EPHP as less than 1% heavy-intensity infections. However, as schistosomiasis control accelerated and new detection tools were developed, evidence of specific persistent morbidity hotspots emerged — which did not necessarily indicate intensity-alone hotspots.

The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene and the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research hosted a webinar to discuss why morbidity hotspots may occur, what was understood by them, and what was required next.

The research afternoon included four short presentations on this topic, followed by a live Q&A where audience members shared and discussed their experiences with the panellists.

The event was moderated by Professor Joanne Webster, Chair of Parasitic Diseases, Director of the Centre for Emerging, Endemic and Exotic Diseases, Royal Veterinary College, and Associate Director of LCNTDR.

Speakers

• Morbidity hotspots: the differential impact of hybridised, mixed or single Schistosoma species infections on morbidity
  Speaker: Dr Sebastien Lambert, Postdoctoral Researcher, Royal Veterinary College, University of London
• Severe persistent intestinal morbidity hotspots in the Lake Albertine region of Uganda
  Speaker: Professor Birgitte Vennervald, Professor of Parasitology and Aquatic Pathobiology, University of Copenhagen
• Genital schistosomiasis: morbidity, diagnostics, and the road forward
  Speaker: Dr Amy Sturt, PhD candidate, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Schistosomiasis in pregnant women
  Speaker: Professor Alison Elliott, Professor of Tropical Medicine, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine