Conclusions & Recommendations
22.4.4 - Delaying impact surveys
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC recognizes that there may be a need for mitigation in hyper-endemic areas that warrant continued treatment. TEC would be prepared to review reasonable and evidence-based requests from national programs for additional Zithromax® that conform to local policy and regulatory standards.
Action:
This recommendation was further considered during the TEC 23 meeting and at a meeting of TEC members and invited experts on May 11th, 2021
TEC 22
2020
alternative treatment strategies, persistence, research, Zithromax® donation criteria
22.5.1 - DFID-ASCEND Lot 1
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC welcomed the participation of colleagues from DFID-ASCEND Lot 1 at TEC 22 and appreciated the information presented. TEC recommends that ITI continue to work with the DFID-ASCEND Lot 1 partnership and invite them to future TEC meetings.
Action:
An invitation was extended and accepted to the TEC 23 and TEC 24 meetings.
TEC 22
2020
funding, recommendations for ITI management
22.6.1 - Ensuring access to Zithromax® donation to all at-risk populations
Conclusion/Recommendation:
The TEC noted that there are still areas that are unmapped – due in part to insecurity, access issues, and lack of funding (e.g., DRC, South Sudan, Lake Chad Basin [Chad and Nigeria], Amazon Basin).
Action:
No action required
TEC 22
2020
South Sudan,Chad,Nigeria
surveys, special populations, suspected endemic, insecurity
22.6.2 - Ensuring access to Zithromax® donation to all at-risk populations
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC also raised concerns over “statistically invisible” populations (e.g., migratory populations, refugees, internally displaced persons) which are not adequately represented/sampled in current survey methodologies to ensure equitable access to the Zithromax® donation and surgical services.
Action:
No action required
TEC 22
2020
surveys, special populations, evaluation units
22.6.3 - Ensuring access to Zithromax® donation to all at-risk populations
Conclusion/Recommendation:
Lack of MDA partners and funding source in these areas is an added challenge.
Action:
No action required
TEC 22
2020
special populations, funding
22.6.4 - Ensuring access to Zithromax® donation to all at-risk populations
Conclusion/Recommendation:
The TEC raised concerns about how to encourage progress towards elimination in these areas, and how to ensure that ongoing transmission in these areas does not affect surrounding areas that are under treatment. The TEC recommended that ITI include details about suspected endemic areas in country documents and presentations at future TEC meetings; discuss with countries with unmapped areas to understand the support they need; discuss with ICTC how to mobilize funding and partners and develop an approach to get the mapping done
Action:
Work on this recommendation is ongoing. As noted above, districts identified by national programs as suspected endemic have been noted in the “Comments” column of the Zithromax®️ Application.
TEC 22
2020
special populations, suspected endemic, ICTC, funding, TEC meeting management, recommendations for ITI management
22.7.1 - Additional fine-tuning needed regarding decision making for treatment of refugee camps/IDPs
Conclusion/Recommendation:
TEC notes that there is continued difficulty in making evidence-based decisions in the context of refugees and internally-displaced persons (IDPs), which indicates the need for clarification of the decision-making guidelines
Action:
No action required
TEC 22
2020
special populations, Zithromax® donation criteria
22.7.2 - Additional fine-tuning needed regarding decision making for treatment of refugee camps/IDPs
Conclusion/Recommendation:
The TEC considered whether a survey in a fluid population provides any actionable information; and recognizes other methodologies that allow more flexibility and context-specific data capture may be needed. The experience of other programs working in similar situations may be instructive to the trachoma community in determining the necessary indicators to allow ITI to determine the point when MDA with Zithromax® is no longer needed.
Action:
No action required
TEC 22
2020
special populations, Zithromax® donation criteria, evaluation units
22.7.3 - Additional fine-tuning needed regarding decision making for treatment of refugee camps/IDPs
Conclusion/Recommendation:
The TEC Refugee/IDP Committee will think through these issues and bring thinking to the next TEC meeting for further consideration, particularly around the issue of data gathering in these populations. The Committee is now comprised of Chad, Robin, Stephanie, and David.
Action:
A sub-committee meeting is tentatively planned for May 27th.
TEC 22
2020
special populations, evaluation units
22.8.1 - Central African Republic
Conclusion/Recommendation:
Given the lack of funding support for the Central African Republic trachoma program, TEC recommends to ITI to encourage the national program to submit a funding request to ESPEN for MDA.
Action:
The recommendation has been shared with the country
TEC 22
2020
Africa - Central/Southern
CAR
funding, recommendations for ITI management