Community-directed distributors —The “foot soldiers” in the fight to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases

by Uche V. Amazigo, Stephen G. A. Leak, Honorat G. M. Zoure, Chukwu Okoronkwo, Maimouna Diop Ly, Sunday Isiyaku, Andy Crump, Joseph C. Okeibunor, Boakye Boatin The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect hundreds of millions of people, predominantly in rural, often difficult-to-access areas, poorly served by national health services. Here, we review the contributions of 4.8 million community-directed distributors (CDDs) of medicines over 2 decades in 1 46,000 communities in 27 sub-Saharan African countries to control or eliminate onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF). We examine their role in the control of other NTDs, malaria, HIV/AIDS interventions, immunisation campaigns, and support to overstretched health service personnel. We are of t he opinion that CDDs as community selected, trained, and experienced “foot soldiers,” some of whom were involved in the Ebola outbreak responses at the community level in Liberia, if retrained, can assist community leaders and support health workers (HWs) in the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The review highlights the improved treatment coverage where there are women CDDs, the benefits and lessons from the work of CDDs, their long-term engagement, and the challenges they face in healthcare delivery. It underscores the value of utilising the CDD model for strong communi ty engagement and recommends the model, with some review, to hasten the achievement of the NTD 2030 goal and assist the health system cope...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research