Abstract
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are among the
most common neglected tropical diseases worldwide causing high
morbidity and mortality rates in endemic areas. Preventive
chemotherapy (PC) programmes and health education are recom-
mended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the
impact of STH in endemic countries. Following our role as WHO
collaborating centre (WHO CC ITA-116), we have developed a
WebGIS and a dataset to support PC programmes to monitor the
impact of STH control. This vHealth presentation shows the
potentiality of these tools in improving communication among
WHO’s regional and country offices, Ministries of Health, phar-
maceutical industries and other partners.
Background
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, caused by round-
worms, hookworms and whipworms, are among the most com-
mon neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) worldwide. The World
Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 1.5 bil-
lion people are infected by STHs, with 2.0 billion at risk (WHO,
2020). The global burden of disease (GBD) amounts to over 3.3
million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (GBD, DALYs and
HALE Collaborators, 2017; Turner et al., 2021) causing severe
anaemia and hampering the cognitive and physical development
of children leading to high morbidity and mortality rates in
endemic areas (Marocco et al., 2020). The impact of STH infec-
tions is particularly high in low-income countries, especially in
children, due to malnutrition, poor hygiene, low education and
restricted access to health care (Hailegebriel et al., 2020). In addi-
tion, climatic changes and movement of people from high preva-
lence to non-endemic areas may increase the transmission of STH
(Steverding, 2020). To reduce STH prevalence and morbidity, pre-
ventive chemotherapy (PC) strategy and health education, partic-
ularly targeted at pre-school and school age children (pre-SAC
and SAC), are recommended (Montresor et al., 2020). Achieving
and maintaining elimination of STH morbidity by 2030 are the
main goals of WHO’s programme as reported in the NTD 2021-
2030 roadmap (WHO, 2020).
The terms of reference of our WHO collaborating centre for
diagnosis of intestinal helminths and protozoa (WHO CC ITA-
116) based in Naples (Italy) are aimed to support endemic coun-
tries in monitoring PC programmes by: i) identifying countries in
need of impact surveying; ii) following changes in the STH epi-
demiology (prevalence and morbidity) aiming at reduction in drug
needs; and iii) indicating global, country and regional trend during
PC implementation. For this reason, we have developed a WebGIS
(www.whocc.ita116.unina.it) which includes a dataset for follow-
ing the impact of STH control in the six WHO regions: Africa
(AFRO), Americas (PAHO), South-East Asia (SEARO), Europe
(EURO), Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), Western Pacific
(WPRO). In the accompanying video we show the potentiality of
the tools proposed to facilitate communication among WHO’s
Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases
(WHO/NTD) and regional and country offices, Ministries of
Health and pharmaceutical companies. The website also includes
high-accuracy dynamic maps that are continuously updated based
on data exclusively provided by WHO official channels. Any sug-
gestion and update from the stakeholders listed above are more
than welcome to improve the website.
Correspondence: Maria Paola Maurelli, Department of Veterinary
Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II,
CREMOPAR, WHO Collaborating Centre ITA-116, Naples, Italy.
Tel.: +39.081.2536014. E-mail: mariapaola.maurelli@unina.it
Key words: Soil-transmitted helminths; preventive chemotherapy (PC)
programme; PC coverage; morbidity; impact survey.
Video clip: https://youtu.be/P2RZE5UoSU0
Received for publication: 4 November 2021.
Revision received: 7 November 2021.
Accepted for publication: 8 November 2021.
©Copyright: the Author(s), 2021
Licensee PAGEPress, Italy
Geospatial Health 2021; 16:1049
doi:10.4081/gh.2021.1049
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution Noncommercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0) which permits any
noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro-
vided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Development of a public geographical information system-based website
to follow the impact of control activities of soil-transmitted helminths
in endemic countries
Maria Paola Maurelli,
1
Paola Pepe,
1
Antonio Montresor,
2
Denise Mupfasoni,
2
Martina Nocerino,
1
Maria Elena Morgoglione,
1
Vincenzo Musella,
3
Giuseppe Cringoli,
1
Laura Rinaldi
1
1
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II,
CREMOPAR, WHO Collaborating Centre ITA-116, Naples, Italy;
2
Department of Control of Neglected
Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland;
3
Department of Health Sciences,
University of Catanzaro Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy
[Geospatial Health 2021; 16:1049] [page 447]
Geospatial Health 2021; volume 16:1049
Non-commercial use only