Modelling the Potential Impact of Covid-19 Related Programme Interruptions on Seven Neglected Tropical Diseases

In March 2021, we published a special issue of Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene on modelling the potential impact of COVID-19 related programme interruptions on seven neglected tropical diseases. 

All the articles, which are open access and free to read, have been written by world-renowned global health experts, including Dr Teshome Gebre, Regional Director for Africa, for the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) and Professor Deirdre Hollingsworth, Senior Group Leader, Big Data Institute.

"The indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is yet to be fully evaluated, but our analysis suggests that the impact on NTDs will vary by disease and there may be mitigation strategies which can be implemented as programmes are restarted." 

Professor Deirdre Hollingsworth

Guest editors

The guest editors for the special issue, Modelling the Potential Impact of Covid-19 Related Programme Interruptions on Seven Neglected Tropical Diseases, are:

Professor Deirdre Hollingsworth

Professor Hollingsworth leads the NTD Modelling Consortium, an international consortium of epidemiological modellers working across seven NTDs. She is a professor at the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford.

Dr Pauline Mwinzi

Dr Mwinzi is the Schistosomiasis and STH Technical Officer in the WHO regional office for Africa, within the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of NTDs (ESPEN). She has over 25 years research and public health experience in Kenya and in the Africa region focusing on NTDs, especially schistosomiasis.

Dr Andreia Vasconcelos

Dr Vasconcelos is the Scientific Manager of the NTD Modelling Consortium.

Professor Sake J. de Vlas

Professor de Vlas is Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling in the Department of Public Health at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam. His main research activity is to develop and apply mathematical models for the transmission and control of infectious diseases of the tropics.

Articles

Editorial 

> Evaluating the potential impact of interruptions to neglected tropical disease programmes due to COVID-19

T Déirdre Hollingsworth, Pauline Mwinzi, Andreia Vasconcelos, Sake J de Vlas

Commentaries

> Neglected tropical disease control in a world with COVID-19: an opportunity and a necessity for innovation 

Simon J Brooker, Kundai Ziumbe, Nebiyu Negussu, Siobhan Crowley, Mona Hammami

> Rethinking neglected tropical disease prevalence survey design and analysis: a geospatial paradigm

Peter J Diggle, Benjamin Amoah, Claudio Fronterre, Emanuele Giorgi, Olatunji Johnson

> Use of modelling to modify trachoma elimination strategies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Paul M Emerson, P J Hooper, Teshome Gebre

Original articles

> Modelling trachoma post-2020: opportunities for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and accelerating progress towards elimination

Anna Borlase, Seth Blumberg, E Kelly Callahan, Michael S Deiner, Scott D Nash, Travis C Porco, Anthony W Solomon, Thomas M Lietman, Joaquin M Prada, T Dèirdre Hollingsworth

> Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in eliminating trachoma as a public health problem

Seth Blumberg, Anna Borlase, Joaquin M Prada, Anthony W Solomon, Paul Emerson, Pamela J Hooper, Michael S Deiner, Benjamin Amoah, T Déirdre Hollingsworth, Travis C Porco, Thomas M Lietman

> Modelling the impact of COVID-19-related programme interruptions on visceral leishmaniasis in India

Epke A Le Rutte, Luc E Coffeng, Johanna Muñoz, Sake J de Vlas

> Disruptions to schistosomiasis programmes due to COVID-19: an analysis of potential impact and mitigation strategies 

Klodeta Kura, Diepreye Ayabina, Jaspreet Toor, T Deirdre Hollingsworth, Roy M Anderson

> Predicting the impact of COVID-19 interruptions on transmission of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in two health zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Maryam Aliee, Soledad Castaño, Christopher N Davis, Swati Patel, Erick Mwamba Miaka, Simon E F Spencer, Matt J Keeling, Nakul Chitnis, Kat S Rock

> Modelling the impact of COVID-19-related control programme interruptions on progress towards the WHO 2030 target for soil-transmitted helminths

Veronica Malizia, Federica Giardina, Carolin Vegvari, Sumali Bajaj, Kevin McRae-McKee, Roy M Anderson, Sake J de Vlas, Luc E Coffeng

> Delays in lymphatic filariasis elimination programmes due to COVID-19, and possible mitigation strategies 

Joaquín M Prada, Wilma A Stolk, Emma L Davis, Panayiota Touloupou, Swarnali Sharma, Johanna Muñoz, Rocio M Caja Rivera, Lisa J Reimer, Edwin Michael, Sake J de Vlas, T Déirdre Hollingsworth

> What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the next decade of onchocerciasis control and elimination?

Jonathan I D Hamley, David J Blok, Martin Walker, Philip Milton, Adrian D Hopkins, Louise C Hamill, Philip Downs, Sake J de Vlas, Wilma A Stolk, Maria-Gloria Basáñez