Deworming efforts reach five billion doses as new coalition promises further progress

Global deworming efforts have reached a new, unprecedented milestone: more than five billion deworming tablets have been delivered to children around the world. These donated tablets prevent soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections caused by parasites that invade your colon, small intestine, and other parts of the body. 

“With the long-term commitments Johnson & Johnson and GSK made to provide these tablets, they enabled many national STH programs to develop and scale quickly,” said Dr. Kristin Sullivan, The Task Force for Global Health’s Children Without Worms (CWW) Senior Public Health Advisor with more than 15 years of experience as an epidemiologist. “These donations were really fundamental in helping to launch and accelerate the coordinated global STH control effort. For two decades now, donations have reached millions of children each year.”

Since the beginning of the donation program in 2006, the CWW program has worked alongside the global STH community to accelerate .

“Five billion tablets is a massive number, which speaks to the dedication, persistence, and hard work of hundreds of thousands of people, from teachers and community drug distributors, to health officials and scientists, to the people who work in the factories that produce the medicines for STH prevention and control,” said Dr. David Addiss, former CWW director, who has spent more than three decades in NTD elimination.

A single deworming tablet can be the difference between a healthy child that reaches their full potential, or suffers from malnutrition, but lasting progress depends on more than donated medicine alone. Because deworming medication does not prevent reinfection, CWW works with ministries of health to conduct critical health surveys to determine which areas are in the most need of interventions. The team prioritizes country engagement, partnerships, advocacy, and technical leadership while working closely with drug donors, the World Health Organization, nongovernmental organizations, national implementing partners, and public-private coalitions. 

Accelerating its strategy, CWW is taking the next step to support the STH community: the relaunch of the STH Coalition.

“At its core, we come together in coalitions to advance goals that we cannot achieve by ourselves,” said Andie Tucker, The Task Force’s Global Coalitions Lead and STH Coalition Secretariat. “Individual countries are facing these new pressures in their own ways, but we have the opportunity to learn from one another, we have the opportunity to support one another, and we can do that with more strength and rigor if we’re able to do that together. These are global challenges that require a global solution”

The coalition was shaped by today’s changing global health landscape and designed to help countries navigate it together.

“The global health landscape has changed in significant ways over the past few years. Many of our old assumptions have been called into question, so we have to pause, take stock, and move decisively forward, together. A re-envisioned STH Coalition will provide the kind of support that can benefit national programs and affected communities,” said Dr. David Addiss. 

The coalition has been designed through its governance structure with a very clear and focused role as a space where stakeholders can align, share experiences, interpret guidance in the context of real-world program needs, and advance sustainability work of STH programs. 

“This relaunching of the coalition, I think, comes at a very important moment, I would say, because at this juncture we have a changing landscape and of the five NTDs caused by parasitic and bacterial infection, STH, is one of the most neglected,” said Dr. Clara Jones Mwansasu, a member of the coalition, the coalition’s interim steering committee, and NTD Program Manager for the Tanzania Ministry of Health. 

Coalition activities will lead to concrete outputs with clear timelines, responsibilities and accountability. The first meeting will happen in the fall of this year. 

“Our immediate priorities are to foster relationships, rebuild trust across the STH community, re-establish a regular space for coordination and shared learning. From there, we will support sustainability and transition planning and connect technical guidance with operational realities,” said Tucker.   

According to Dr. Sullivan, an immediate priority for the next five years is to ensure that each donated tablet reaches a child who will benefit from it, with sustainability serving as a long-term objective.

“That’s how we maximize the impact of these valuable donations. We ensure they reach children who will benefit from them, while also helping countries build more sustainable programs,” said Dr. Sullivan, “by driving down prevalence, driving down drug need.” 

“We believe the coalition is going to boost the country’s efforts, move towards domestic mobilization and ownership of the program, and bring in partners to ensure that the target of eliminating STH is attained by the goal of 2030,” said Dr. Jones. 

Coalition leaders believe this approach could extend beyond STH. By bringing together governments, technical experts, donors, and implementing partners around shared priorities, the model could strengthen elimination efforts for other neglected tropical diseases facing similar sustainability challenges, especially since The Task Force has extensive experience in coalition leadership, country engagement, and sustainability.

“Convening is the core function of who we are,” said Tucker. “I think this coalition will help light the way for other NTDs that are facing, or will be facing, these same kinds of sustainability challenges in the near future.”