Toward the 2020 goal of soil-transmitted helminthiasis control and elimination

With 2020 on the horizon, we are well into the second decade post-WHA 54.19. Major challenges remain. Among others, these include (1) the need to maximize the impact of pharmaceutic donations of anthelmintic drugs, (2) the need to clarify targets to guide monitoring efforts moving forward, and (3) the need to take into account recent successes of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF). The latter challenge results in the consequent scaling down of community-based control interventions, thus reducing the ancillary benefits of this strategy on soil-transmitted helminthiasis [14]. A complete transition from a lymphatic filariasis elimination program to a soil-transmitted helminthiasis control program will have important consequences so that efforts to ensure that all risk groups for soil-transmitted helminthiasis will be adequately covered need to be planned well in advance of the actual transition.