Myanmar’s Integrated Approach to Mapping and Controlling NTDs

This content was originally posted by the London Applied & Spatial Epidemiology Research Group (LASER).

In 2013, analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that in Myanmar over 42 million people were at risk of infection from at least one neglected tropical disease (NTD) including soil transmitted helminths (STH), leprosy, lymphatic filariasis (LF) and trachoma.

When trachoma was taken on its own, 18 million people lived in areas where trachoma was a known risk and approximately 66,000 were suffering from the advanced stage of the disease leading to visual impairment and permanent blindness (Global Atlas of Trachoma, 2013).

To  support national programs in countries such as Myanmar to control and eventually eliminate NTDs as a public health issue, the WHO’s Regional Office for South East Asia developed the Regional Strategic Plan for Integrated NTD control in South-East Asia Region.

Read more of this article from our partner the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) about our collaboration in Myanmar.