02288nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001900042653003900061653002900100653001900129100001800148700001300166700001500179700002100194700001700215700001400232700001400246700001500260700001300275700001300288245015300301856007300454300000800527490000600535520146900541       2015                            d  bBioMed Central10aNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs)10aMass drug administration10aHealth systems1 aMacpherson EE1 aAdams ER1 aBockarie M1 aHollingsworth DT1 aKelly-Hope L1 aLehane MJ1 aKovacic V1 aHarrison R1 aPaine MJ1 aReimer L00aMass drug administration and beyond: how can we strengthen health systems to deliver complex interventions to eliminate neglected tropical diseases?  uhttp://bmcproc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1753-6561-9-S10-S7  a5 p0 v93 a<p>Achieving the 2020 goals for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) requires scale-up of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) which will require long-term commitment of national and global financing partners, strengthening national capacity and, at the community level, systems to monitor and evaluate activities and impact.<br />
For some settings and diseases, MDA is not appropriate and alternative interventions are required. Operational research is necessary to identify how existing MDA networks can deliver this more complex range of interventions equitably.<br />
The final stages of the different global programmes to eliminate NTDs require eliminating foci of transmission which are likely to persist in complex and remote rural settings. Operational research is required to identify how current tools and practices might be adapted to locate and eliminate these hard-to-reach foci.<br />
Chronic disabilities caused by NTDs will persist after transmission of pathogens ceases. Development and delivery of sustainable services to reduce the NTD-related disability is an urgent public health priority.<br />
LSTM and its partners are world leaders in developing and delivering interventions to control vector-borne NTDs and malaria, particularly in hard-to-reach settings in Africa. Our experience, partnerships and research capacity allows us to serve as a hub for developing, supporting, monitoring and evaluating global programmes to eliminate NTDs.</p>