Burkina Faso's 3rd Successful Deworming Week

Burkina Faso’s national schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth control programme (PNLSc) has successfully organized and implemented a mass treatment campaign in the four priority regions

Between the 25th of October and the 3rd of November 2006, Burkina Faso’s national schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth control programme (PNLSc) successfully organized and implemented a mass treatment campaign in the four priority regions of DRS Nord, DRS Sahel, DRS Boucle de Mouhoun and DRS Sud-Ouest. In total, PNLSc’s 2006 mass treatment campaign treated a total of 2,818,577 people (1,224,664 children and 1,593,913 adults) and the overall coverage rate was 93.86

The 3rd annual Ministry of Health dedicated deworming week included, for the first time, the treatment of both school-aged children and adults. PNLSc’s first two mass treatment campaigns (October 2004 and 2005) only targeted school-aged children. However, due to high schistosomiasis prevalence and intensity in certain zones in the four regions the Ministry of Health took the decision to target adults in high risk communities.

Prior to this treatment in the four regions, PNLSc organised a variety of educational campaigns to ensure target populations were aware of the treatment, understood what the treatment was for (schistosomiasis and intestinal worms), and knew how to prevent the transmission of both schistosomiasis and the intestinal worms (soil-transmitted helminths-STH). The educational tools used included television skits on Burkina Faso’s national television channel, and radio announcements on both public and private radio stations.

To initiate the 3rd annual deworming week individual launch campaigns were organised by regional and district officials. In both DRS Nord and DRS Sahel regional launches took place at the start of the treatment campaign and were opened by senior government officials. In DRS Boucle de Mouhoun and DRS Sud-Ouest each district organised their own launches prior to the start of the campaign. Overall, the success of the PNLSc 2006 treatment campaign was due to careful and detailed organisation, an extensive and targeted IEC campaign and collaboration with government officials and local representatives at all levels.

An evaluation of the programme will be scheduled in early 2007.