Neglected Tropical Diseases

The NTD Initiative

Tools and Guidelines

USAID’s NTD Control Program has developed and refined several state-of-the-art tools to plan for, monitor, and evaluate integrated NTD control programs at the country level. The tools included below are being used by NTD country program managers and other implementation partners working in support of government NTD programs. They can be adapted for different country settings. We encourage our partners to make use of these innovative tools. Comments and feedback can be provided to NTD@usaid.gov.

Tools

• Post MDA Survey Tool [PDF, 89KB]
  This protocol presents a simple, easy-to-use population-based survey method to assess drug treatment coverage. The survey tool can be used to validate country-reported drug coverage, assess coverage by age and gender, and explore reasons why people do not participate in MDAs. The tool can be used by country programs to develop their own coverage assessment tool, which includes country-specific information on drug package and sampling parameters.
  
  
• Mass Drug Administration Coverage Reporting [Excel, 236KB]
  The NTD Control Program developed this tool for its grantees to assist them with reporting coverage in countries following mass drug administration. This tool may also be adapted for use by other countries and partners. Also available in French [Excel, 227KB].
  
  
• Engaging NTD Stakeholders [PDF, 74KB]
  Relationships with stakeholders in each country are paramount to developing a fully integrated and successful national NTD control program. Involving key stakeholders early in the program planning process to build local capacity and foster strong and productive relations with key technical partners is essential. This document provides guidelines for organizing, leading, and following up after NTD stakeholders’ meetings. Although different countries have unique environments and disease epidemiological patterns, the principles and objectives remain the same.
  
  
• Writing NTD Country Success Stories [PDF, 338KB]
  Success stories are critical elements of any public health program, and they are especially important for conveying results in a health area that has historically been “neglected,” such as NTDs. This PowerPoint presentation describes the key elements of a success story and provides useful advice for creating a captivating story that can be used for advocacy and results communication to a wide range of audiences.
  
  
• NTD Costing/Budgeting Tool – This innovative tool is coming soon!
  This tool will aid country programs in developing their national NTD strategies and budgets. The costing tool is designed to assist NTD program managers in planning their programs and measuring their impact in terms of costs and outcomes. It combines budget and cost data with epidemiologic and demographic data. The tool helps managers project the estimated costs and effects of a program, and after the program has been completed, it can be used to evaluate what actually happened. The tool is an Excel workbook that is set up primarily to collect information according to activities, e.g., advocacy, monitoring and surveillance, etc. It also allows managers to keep track of the inputs that go into these activities, such as materials, equipment, and personnel. The workbook consists of pre-designed, modifiable sheets, which are connected to summary pages that help track the total projected costs, costs per person, proportion of inputs, etc.

Guidelines

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed several key guidelines and manuals for the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of integrated NTD programs, which are summarized below.

Preventive Chemotherapy in Human Helminthiasis: Coordinated Use of Anthelminthic Drugs in Control Interventions – A Manual for Health Professionals and Programme Managers [PDF, 1.6MB]
	This manual is intended to guide the coordinated implementation of regular, systematic, large-scale interventions that provide anthelminthic drug treatment as a core component of the joint and synergic control of helminthic diseases, such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. The manual focuses mainly on anthelminthic treatment, but other drugs used to eliminate other agents can be potentially associated with those mentioned in the manual; as a reference to trachoma control through the SAFE strategy, combining drug treatment with hygiene and environmental management can be associated with helminth control interventions to boost the overall health of affected communities.
Monitoring Drug Coverage for Preventive Chemotherapy
	This manual describes how data collectors at the peripheral level, health workers, and mid-level data managers can use the data they collect to assess progress, identify problems, and take corrective action in order to improve program quality and success. The manual is designed to facilitate data integration and improve coordination of information management activities at the field level, and promote collaboration among the diverse groups contributing to the global control of helminthiasis. WHO is finalizing this manual; please check back for updates.
Evaluation of Drug Coverage for Preventive Chemotherapy This complementary manual provides a survey methodology for evaluating reported drug coverage. Evaluation is a crucial component of the national control program for fine-tuning a national treatment strategy according to the local epidemiological situations. Coverage surveys are needed to validate reported coverage and to take advantage of cost-saving opportunities for integration. This manual provides guidance on how to plan a coverage survey for Preventive Chemotherapy (PCT), conduct the survey, analyze data, and summarize and present the results. The potential use of standardized international surveys as an additional avenue for evaluation of PCT is also presented.  WHO is finalizing this manual; please check back for updates.