Skin-NTDs are a group of neglected tropical diseases affecting the skin and include at least 9 diseases or disease groups including lymphatic filariasis (LF).
in June 2022, the WHO strategic framework for integrated control and management of skin-NTDs was initiated to employ synergistic approaches and optimize the use of limited resources, and move away from disease-specific approaches to disease management (1).
This evolving strategy offers practical opportunities to identify multiple conditions in a single intervention and improve case detection. Combining activities for two or more patient groups improves community understanding and advocacy and is an efficient use of human, material and financial resources.
Since 2013, World Skin Health Day has been taking place across the world to raise awareness of and treat a diverse range of skin conditions, including Skin-NTDs. Read more on Skin Health Day.
We will soon take our new training videos to the same region in Bangladesh where people learned our enhanced self-care program in the original RCT.
I am excited to find out how practicing massage has impacted the people who have been using massage for over 5-years now.
I am expecting to hear that while it is not easy to keep up the daily routine all that time, but that the ones who have persisted will have visible improvement in the appearance of their feet and legs.
Our tools are aligned with the global Skin-NTD goals and we aim to provide clinical and technical guidance to all stakeholders.
From central MoH staff, to affected persons in the most remote and inaccessible community.
To achieve this we need the cooperation and support of donors and partners. Please assist us to develop our virtual trainings tools and offer them freely to anyone who needs to understand and perform lymphedema home-care.