Overview
PC is defined as the large-scale distribution of safe, quality-assured medicines, either alone or in combination, at regular intervals, to entire population groups through community- and school-based interventions. WHO recommends PC against 5 NTDs: lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) and trachoma, which are the subject of this report. PC is also used against other NTDs, including foodborne trematodiases, taeniasis and yaws, for which the PC approach is currently used on a much smaller scale; reported data are still fragmented and are not included in this report. Other interventions (individual disease management, vector control, veterinary public health and water, sanitation and hygiene) may also be required for the control, elimination and eradication of these NTDs. WHO Member States submit reports relevant to the diseases targeted with PC using a set of forms which helps to facilitate the process of application for medicines, review and reporting on interventions, as well as to improve coordination and integration among different programs.
In 2022, 71 countries or territories implemented PC for at least 1 NTD, reaching 819 million individuals who required treatment. This corresponds to a small decrease in the global coverage of PC since 2021, from 53.1% to 50.6%. The main reason for the decrease is that India, the highest-burden country requiring PC, covered about 117 million fewer people in 2022 than in 2021. If India is excluded from the analysis, the number of people who received PC for at least 1 disease increased by almost 60 million, from 402.3 million in 2021 to 462.2 million in 2022. In total, 1.47 billion treatments were delivered to individuals in 2022.
Data on PC implementation in 2022 are not yet fully complete, and reports submitted by several countries are still under review. Disease-specific reports on progress achieved in 2022–2023 against the 5 main target diseases were published in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record. Analysis has been conducted to determine the geographical overlap of the diseases targeted by PC in order to estimate the number of individuals who required and received PC for at least one disease in 2022. These numbers are updated on an annual basis sing the most recent available demographic, epidemiological and treatment data for the targeted diseases; these data are generated by health ministries’ programs at implementation unit level. Table 1 summarizes data on implementation of PC in 2022 by WHO region, as received by 20 November 2023. (WHO, 2023)