Novel approaches for the management of chronic forms of schistosomiasis: the identification of adapted tools through the Madagascan example - NAMASTE

More than 230 million people are infected and 600 million are at risk of infection with schistosomiasis, which ranks top in terms of disability-adjusted life years (3.3 million DALYs) among neglected tropical diseases. Over 90 percent of those requiring treatment for schistosomiasis live in Africa, where both intestinal and urinary forms of the disease occur. The main public health impact of Schistosoma infections results from the chronic development of the infections that can progress to liver inflammation and advanced liver disease or urogenital diseases such as female genital schistosomiasis (FGS). As consequences of infections with Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni, respectively, FGS impacts the fertility and predisposition to other gynaecological disorders. NAMASTE has the overall objective of improving the management of chronic forms of schistosomiasis through two specific objectives: i. to identify adapted strategies for the detection of the disease in poor resource settings; ii. to identify novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. NAMASTE will be implemented in Madagascar where a high burden of the disease exists. The expected outcome of the project is to provide evidence-based data supporting new interventions and new diagnostic tools for the management of chronic forms of schistosomiasis.