Elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem in Malawi.

Background: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, causing severe pain, disfiguring, and disabling clinical conditions such as lymphoedema and hydrocoele. LF is a global public health problem affecting 72 countries, primarily in Africa and Asia. Since 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) has led the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) to support all endemic regions.

Mental health and neglected tropical diseases - the neglected dimension of burden: identifying the challenges and understanding the burden.

Mental health co-morbidity and the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) has been highlighted as a major component of the ill health. The impact of mental illness is considered to be significantly underestimated in the calculations of the overall Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). This commentary discusses the DALY burden of anxiety, depression and associated stigma of NTDs.

Investigating manual performance when using push buttons following cold water hand immersion.

The purpose of this study was to investigate manual performance of humans when using push buttons following cold water hand immersion. An experiment involving 29 human participants was carried out to measure the activation rate of twelve different shaped push buttons mounted on a novel test apparatus after their dominant hand was immersed in cold (2 °C) and thermoneutral (34 °C) water for 2 min. A series of standardized hand dexterity tests were completed to assess the participants' baseline tactile sensitivity in a dry thermoneutral state.

Is the neglected tropical disease mass drug administration campaign approach an effective strategy to deliver universal health coverage? A case study of the Liberia neglected tropical disease programme.

Background: Access to affordable, quality healthcare is the key element of universal health coverage (UHC). This study examines the effectiveness of the neglected tropical disease (NTD) mass drug administration (MDA) campaign approach as a means to deliver UHC, using the example of the Liberia national programme.

Methods: We first mapped the location of 3195 communities from the 2019 national MDA treatment data reporting record of Liberia.