Productivity Loss Related to Neglected Tropical Diseases Eligible for Preventive Chemotherapy: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

BackgroundNeglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) not only cause health and life expectancy loss, but can also lead to economic consequences including reduced ability to work. This article describes a systematic literature review of the effect on the economic productivity of individuals affected by one of the five worldwide most prevalent NTDs: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths (ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm infection) and trachoma. These diseases are eligible to preventive chemotherapy (PCT).Methodology/Principal FindingsEleven bibliographic databases were searched using different names of all NTDs and various keywords relating to productivity. Additional references were identified through reference lists from relevant papers. Of the 5316 unique publications found in the database searches, thirteen papers were identified for lymphatic filariasis, ten for onchocerciasis, eleven for schistosomiasis, six for soil-transmitted helminths and three for trachoma. Besides the scarcity in publications reporting the degree of productivity loss, this review revealed large variation in the estimated productivity loss related to these NTDs.ConclusionsIt is clear that productivity is affected by NTDs, although the actual impact depends on the type and severity of the NTD as well as on the context where the disease occurs. The largest impact on productivity loss of individuals affected by one of these diseases seems to be due to blindness from onchocerciasis and severe schistosomiasis manifestations; productivity loss due to trachoma-related blindness has never been studied directly. However, productivity loss at an individual level might differ from productivity loss at a population level because of differences in the prevalence of NTDs. Variation in estimated productivity loss between and within diseases is caused by differences in research methods and setting. Publications should provide enough information to enable readers to assess the quality and relevance of the study for their purposes.

Measuring the physical and economic impact of filarial lymphoedema in Chikwawa district, Malawi: a case-control study

“…To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the latter two approaches have been used to measure mobility in lymphoedema cases in LF-endemic areas. This study further supports previous work of the economic consequences of lymphoedema, or neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in general [6, 7, 28], with controls’ median weekly earnings over the 3 week study period (1 393MK, ~$1.86) being three times greater than that of cases (527MK, ~$0.70).…”

“…These attacks, which include pain, fever and increased swelling of affected areas can be extremely debilitating and are further associated with the progression of the severity of the lymphoedema. Together, lymphoedema and acute attacks have a significant social [3], psychological [4, 5] and economic [6, 7] impact on the affected individual. As such, the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) recognises that in order to eliminate LF as a public health problem, these conditions need to be effectively managed [8, 9].…”

Ultrasound‐Assisted Synthesis of Nitrogen and Oxygen Containing Heterocycles Using Fluorinated Graphene Oxide as Catalyst: Evaluation of Their Anthelmintic Activities

“…[26] Even a worst scenario could happen in future with dependence only on limited drugs and escalating cases of resistant helminth strains against drug candidates. [27] A broad spectrum of biological activites of spirooxindole derivatives, as mentioned earlier, prompted us to investigate their anthelmintic properties.…”

Are public-private partnerships the solution to tackle neglected tropical diseases? A systematic review of the literature

“…These diseases were associated with 26.06 million disability adjusted-life years (DALYs) (3). NTDs have a serious impact on work productivity: the largest of which seems to be due to blindness from onchocerciasis and severe manifestations of schistosomiasis (4). Overall, these 17 diseases have been estimated to cost billions of dollars to developing economies each year (3).…”