Paediatric schistosomiasis: last mile preparations for deploying paediatric praziquantel

Schistosomiasis is the second most important parasitic disease of public health importance in Africa, affecting over 50 million children aged <5 years old. Schistosomiasis control has focused on treating school-aged children (>6 years) and adults through mass drug administration (MDA). Following the recent development of a paediatric praziquantel (PZQ) formulation for children aged <5 years, there are now concerted efforts to determine optimal and effective ways to integrate treatment of these children into national schistosomiasis control programmes. In this opinion article we outline the pathway for successful drug access, delivery, and mainstreaming of the new formulation in endemic country health systems. Effective and sustained paediatric schistosomiasis treatment is an important target of the 2030 World Health Organization (WHO) neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) roadmap.