Conclusions & Recommendations
24.7.4 - Ethiopia
Conclusion/Recommendation:
Oromia: TEC recommends that ITI work with the Federal Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureau, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine study team to quantify the Zithromax® needs for the Stronger SAFE trial.
Action:
The research request has been incorporated in the 2023 Zithromax® Application.
TEC 24
2021
Africa - East
Ethiopia
research, recommendations for ITI management
24.7.5 - Ethiopia
Conclusion/Recommendation:
SNNP: TEC noted with concern that some historic MDAs may not have occurred as reported. TEC recommends that ITI follow up with the RHB, Sightsavers, and other partners to better understand these reports and take appropriate action.
Action:
ITI-Ethiopia followed up with Orbis to determine whether any past distributions have been incorrectly reported. It was reported by the implementing partner and the RHB that the data already in the database are accurate for those areas.
TEC 24
2021
Africa - East
Ethiopia
recommendations for ITI management
24.8.1 - Tanzania
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC recognizes that TIS and TSS data in several districts are coming back above threshold more often than expected, which may point to ‘persistence’, may indicate lagging TF, or may be the result of population migration. TEC recommends that ITI work with Tropical Data to discuss appropriate methodologies for trachoma surveys among nomadic populations, consider assessing infection, and/or consider pursuing operational research on more-frequent-than-annual MDA with intensified surveillance to address this.
Action:
This recommendation was shared with the program in September 2021 and a follow-up email was sent to Tropical Data (TD) regarding survey development. This was also discussed during the WHO Informal Consultation meeting in December 2021. This issue is being addressed by the country and implementing partners, who have conducted a deep dive to determine the factors around program implementation or epidemiology driving this observation. The findings of the deep dive will be presented at TEC 27.
TEC 24
2021
Africa - East
Tanzania
persistence, research, recommendations for ITI management, alternative treatment strategies, special populations
24.9.1 - Overview of progress to date in the Americas region
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC recommends that ITI pursue discussions with PAHO to explore utilizing the Task Force for Global Health MOU with PAHO as an alternative mechanism for Zithromax® shipments to countries in the region.
Action:
ITI and PAHO are currently in the process of drafting an agreement to facilitate this as of May 2022. This will be presented at TEC 27.
TEC 24
2021
Americas
supply chain, recommendations for ITI management
23.1.1 - National programs’ COVID-19 prevention
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC congratulates the national programs that presented at TEC 23 (Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia) and their partners for their rapid and comprehensive COVID-19 risk prevention during trachoma program activities. TEC encourages other countries to implement stringent COVID-19 risk prevention in their trachoma elimination efforts.
Action:
TEC 23
2021
Nigeria,Côte d'Ivoire,Ethiopia
COVID
23.1.2 - National programs’ COVID-19 prevention
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC congratulates countries that have covered the increased activity costs (to purchase personal protective equipment and increases in per diem, lodging, and fuel costs) through domestic financing. TEC notes that securing domestic financing for this and other program activities is in line with guidance in the new WHO NTD Roadmap.
Action:
No action required
TEC 23
2021
funding, COVID
23.2.1 - Compliance with revised Zithromax® dosing guidance
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC congratulated those involved with the Ethiopian study of compliance with Zithromax® dosing guidance for the wonderfully informative analysis and presentation. TEC were encouraged by the results indicating that more than 99.5% of children aged 5-6 years received powder for oral suspension (POS) in accordance with the revised guidance.
Action:
No action required
TEC 23
2021
Africa - East
Ethiopia
research, dosing
23.2.2 - Compliance with revised Zithromax® dosing guidance
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC recommends that national programs review their trachoma MDA training materials to ensure that the correct dose of POS is given to all children who are eligible to receive it and that other measures to reduce risk of choking are followed during drug distribution, as described in the revised Zithromax® Management Guide.
Action:
This recommendation has been shared with national programs in Zithromax® recipient countries.
TEC 23
2021
dosing
23.2.3 - Compliance with revised Zithromax® dosing guidance
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC recommends that ITI work with the Ethiopian study team to develop guidance for observing management of children during MDA to share with all endemic countries currently distributing Zithromax®.
Action:
Such guidance is incorporated into draft manuscripts from this study, and is already included in the Zithromax® Management Guide.
TEC 23
2021
dosing, research, recommendations for ITI management
23.2.4 - Compliance with revised Zithromax® dosing guidance
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC recommends countries to include above guidance in their supervisory tools to further the goal of no choking deaths from Zithromax®.
Action:
This recommendation has been shared with national programs in Zithromax® recipient countries.
TEC 23
2021
dosing