WSPs baseline surveys in Fiji and Solomon Islands - December 2021

Published

Tuesday, December 21, 2021 - 12:00 PM

The World Scabies Program, like many global health programs, has been greatly affected by the ongoing pandemic in 2021. Despite these challenges, WSP did have a productive year, establishing local teams and offices in each country and making significant progress in conducting baseline prevalence surveys in the second half of 2021.

In carrying out the baseline surveys, WSP developed a methodology and training program that translates our experience in research projects into something that is feasible for national NTD programs to implement. In each country, local nursing staff were trained as skin examiners to identify suspected scabies-like lesions and impetigo in typical exposed sites on the body. Following training, skin examiners completed an online test reviewing 50 individual cases and, in both countries, participants achieved scores above 80%.

In Solomon Islands, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and WHO, over 9,000 people of all ages were examined across the provinces. In Fiji, using the same methodology as in Solomon Islands, six teams were able to examine almost 2,800 people across the Western Division. 

In both countries, teams found scabies and other skin conditions to be problematic for many communities reinforcing the need for skin NTD programs in these Pacific Islands. Analysis of data is underway, and results will be available in early 2022.

To find out more about the methodology and implementation in both countries visit the Our Work here