An internationally renowned short-course designed to provide programme managers and researchers with the practical and technical skills they need to design, implement and measure effective Neglected Tropical Disease (NTDs) control programmes has been launched in Ethiopia.
Held over four days, 'Training on Modern Tools for NTD Control Programmes' provides participants with hands on training to use some of the latest epidemiology and mapping tools and software programmes. During the course participants, drawn from Ethiopia's Federal Ministry of Health, district health bureaus, and leading Ethiopian public health research centres, will be taught to manage and align NTD survey data with geographical data to produce accurate maps showing the prevalance of NTDs such as lymphatic Filarisis, soil transmitted helminths and schistomsomiasis. These maps can then be used to target and design effective national and regional NTD control programmes.
Dr Rachel Pullan, from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine who is leading the training said,
"Recent years have seen remarkable progress in the control of NTDs, with increased availability of funding and the establishment of national NTD control programmes. As countries develop their programmes, data on the geographical distribution of NTDs are required to target treatment to areas of greatest need and to estimate drug and resource requirements. In addition, as interventions are scaled up, national governments and donors require clear information on the progress in control efforts."
Our goal is to provide training in available epidemiology and mapping tools designed to assist in the design, implementation and evaluation of targeted and cost-effective NTD control activities. A particular emphasis of the course is on the mapping of NTDs. "
This course is a collaboration between the London Applied & Spatial Epidemiology Research (LASER) group at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Disease Research (LCNTDR) and the Ethiopia Federal Ministry of Health.
All training tools connected to the Short Course are freely available from 'Training on Modern Tools for NTD Control Programmes' .
Other Resources
Download Ethiopia NTD Distribution Maps