Suchergebnisse

BACKGROUND: Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis is a public health and agricultural problem, especially in low-income countries, and has been ranked the top foodborne parasitic hazard globally. In 2012, the World Health Organization published a roadmap that called for a validated strategy for T. solium control and elimination by 2015. This goal has not been met, and validated evidence of effective control or elimination in endemic countries is still incomplete. Measuring and evaluating success of control programmes remains difficult, as locally acceptable targets have not been defined as part of the 2012 roadmap nor from other sources, and the performance of tools to measure effect are limited. DISCUSSION: We believe that an international agreement supported by the tripartite World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and World Organisation for Animal Health is needed to facilitate endemic countries in publicising SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable/attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) country-level control target goals. These goals should be achievable through locally acceptable adoption of options from within a standardised 'intervention tool-kit', and progress towards these goals should be monitored using standardised and consistent diagnostics. Several intervention tools are available which can contribute to control of T. solium, but the combination of these - the most effective control algorithm - still needs to be identified. In order to mount control efforts and ensure political commitment, stakeholder engagement and funding, we argue that a stepwise approach, as developed for Rabies control, is necessary if control efforts are to be successful and sustainable. CONCLUSIONS: The stepwise approach can provide the framework for the development of realistic control goals of endemic areas, the implementation of intervention algorithms, and the standardised monitoring of the evaluation of the progress towards obtaining the control target goals and eventually elimination.

Background Health workers have traditionally delivered health promotion and education to rural communities in the Global South in paper leaflet formats or orally. With the rise of digital technologies, health promotion and education can be provided in innovative and more effective formats, which are believed to have a higher impact on disease prevention and treatment. Objective The aim of this tutorial is to illustrate how a multi- and interdisciplinary approach can be applied in the design process of digital health messages for use in the Global South. Methods The multi- and interdisciplinary team of the Non-discriminating access for Digital Inclusion (DigI) project digitalized and customized available government-approved paper-based health promotion messages into a screen-suitable format. The team worked closely together and used its diverse expertise to develop digital health messages with disease-specific content in Tanzania's national language (Swahili) as well as English. The development process included the following phases: a local needs assessment; identification of government-approved health promotion materials in a nondigital format; identification of key health messages; creation of a practical and engaging story, easy to understand for the general public; drafting of a storyboard for an animated video with review, feedback, and revisions; forward and backward translation; audio recording of the story in both languages; finalization and presentation of the animations; development of relevant questions related to the health messages in each domain; and development of web and mobile apps to access the digital health messages. Results Between 2017 and 2019, we developed key health messages, quizzes, and animated health videos to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Taenia solium cysticercosis and taeniasis, and anthrax, all of which are of public health importance in Tanzania. Feedback from local stakeholders and test users was included in various phases of the process. The 4 videos and other content are available in local information spots on a digital health platform (DigI platform), established by the DigI project, in both Tanzanian Swahili and English. Conclusions Our methodological multi- and interdisciplinary approach ensures that the digital health messages for the public are clear, high quality, and align with the government's objectives for health promotion. It also demonstrates the diversity of scientific disciplines required when collaborating on a digital health project. We recommend this approach to be applied to the development of other digital health messages for a wide range of diseases. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/25128