Transitioning from river blindness control to elimination: Steps toward stopping treatment

Abstract

The transition from onchocerciasis control to elimination requires country programmes to rethink their approach to a variety of activities as they move from addressing morbidity to addressing transmission of the parasite. Although the 2016 WHO guidelines provide extensive recommendations, it was beyond the scope of the document to provide guidance on all aspects of the transition. This paper will discuss some of the important issues that programmes are grappling with as they transition to elimination and provide some potential approaches that programmes can use to address them. Although there are some data to support some aspects of the suggested approaches, operational research will be needed to generate data to support these approaches further and to determine how programmes could best tailor them to their own unique epidemiological challenges. Good communication between the national programmes and the broader global programme will facilitate the clear articulation of programmatic challenges and the development of the evidence to support programme decision-making.