Ascend West and Central Africa could play an important role in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa, according to an opinion piece by David Molyneux, emeritus professor and former director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).
Read the opinion pieceThe UK aid-funded programme is managed by four leading development organisations and led by Sightsavers. Together we will support the delivery of around 400 million treatments to help several countries to reach the elimination threshold for diseases and promote long-term sustainable change.
In three years (2019-2022), the Ascend programme aims to transform millions of lives by treating trachoma, river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis and intestinal worms.
We will work alongside ministries of health, communities and partners including the World Health Organization (WHO) in endemic countries to deliver one of the most significant NTD programmes in history.
The video below shows the work already achieved to tackle lymphatic filariasis in the Bijagos Islands in Guinea-Bissau. The Ascend programme will build on this work, and that of many other programmes, to help us treat these devastating diseases.
Discover how the Ascend West and Central Africa programme and its partners supported ministries to respond to COVID 19 and see some of the amazing artwork and videos created.
Ascend and COVID-19In the first year of the programme, Ascend West and Central Africa delivered nine million more treatments than originally envisioned. Other achievements include:
The Ascend consortium is made up of four of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) established partners, including: Sightsavers, Mott MacDonald, the SCI Foundation and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Each partner is responsible for NTD programming in collaboration with national governments. Ascend will build on this by working with partners and small/medium enterprises to fight the diseases and eliminate them wherever possible.
Every person has a part to play in eliminating these diseases. Together we can enhance the health, quality of life and future wellbeing of people affected by these painful, poverty-trapping conditions.
Sightsavers and partners are supporting ministries of health in 13 countries:
The Ascend Learning and Innovation Fund will provide grants to support a range of NTD-focused activities, from research to large-scale implementation, across 13 countries in West and Central Africa.
Find out moreMr Alabi, the neglected tropical disease (NTD) coordinator for Kogi State, Nigeria, and his team provide NTD interventions to more than four million people annually.
In the first year of the programme, the Ascend West and Central Africa partners have supported health workers and volunteers to deliver mass treatment campaigns that will help tackle high rates of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Liberia.
Alhaji Sani Muhammad Dan'lya is the acting chairman of Sokoto State's chapter of the Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities. He helps to highlight the importance of disability inclusion within the Ascend West and Central Africa programme.