​​Ethiopia's national mapping of Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) control and its plans for nationwide control, as well as recent research into effective SHN programming have presented a multitude of possibilities to both disseminate and use this research to inform effective government decision making.  

To optimize on the wealth of data now becoming available and to coordinate various partners contributing to school health interventions in Ethiopia, a research committee was established in late 2014, represented by researchers from the Ethiopian Public Health institute (EPHI), the Federal Ministry of Health, and Imperial College London's Partnership for Child Development and Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.

Creating A Research Action Plan

In December the committee coordinated a research meeting with the participation of senior researchers from PCD, SCI, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine​ and the University of Ghent discussed recent research findings from the NTD mapping and Ethiopia's Enhanced School Health Initiative.

At the meeting the group:  

  • identified research gaps and priorities for NTD control 
  • the need to look at the school versus community based NTD treatment 
  • the overlap between NTD's and Water Sanitation and Hygiene 
  • and avenues for funding and support 

During the meeting, the experts outlined the value of this collaboration and decided to organise more regular scientific conferences on NTD research in Ethiopia. In addition to these meetings, the committee is also exploring avenues for sudy opportunities for young researches, capacity building events at EPHI on NTD mapping and academic writing, the validation of research data sets, and joint research publications which can be used by the Ethiopian and other governments to improve school health delivery.