Findings from a new study in Zanzibar, published January 23 in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, pave the way for the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the mass co-delivery of three anti-parasitic drugs for the first time. The study shows the safety of delivering three drugs simultaneously – ivermectin, albendazole and praziquantel – in order to tackle three diseases, elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis), soil-transmitted worms (helminths), and schistosomiasis. Public health interventions based on distribution of these drugs have generally been implemented using one drug at a time. But a coordinated approach could prove to be much more resource- and cost-effective.
