SynthesisBMJ global health2024
Mass drug administration for neglected tropical disease control and elimination: a systematic review of ethical reasons.
Synthesis in BMJ global health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Towards point-of-care diagnostics of neglected tropical diseases using nucleic acid amplification tests.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2026Review
- Willingness of adults to accept malaria mass drug administration using the theoretical framework of acceptability: a cross-sectional study in an urban municipality, Ghana.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Perceived barriers and opportunities to the continuous distribution of ivermectin in the Cameroon primary health care system: an exploratory study of major stakeholders.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Beneficiary feedback mechanisms: Exploring ways to systematically integrate community feedback in mass drug administration delivery for NTDs.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Effects of Cash Transfer and Incentive Programs on Service Utilization and Treatment Outcomes Related to Neglected Tropical Diseases and Their Impact on Health and Nutrition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Protocol for a Systematic Review.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- From "Coverage" to Verified Ingestion: Making Helminth MDA Outcomes Audit-Ready in WASH-Dependent Communities (Comment on Taiwo et al.).Acta parasitologica · 2026Article
- Neglected tropical diseases: the need for an integrated approach to achieve the 2030 roadmap.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Reclaiming Rural Medicine: Mass Drug Administration, Community Sovereignty, and Institutional Memory.Cureus · 2025Article
- Identifying gaps in the care and management of NTD morbidity, disability and disfigurement in Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Assessing the Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases in Low-Income Communities: Challenges and Solutions.Viruses · 2024Review
- Mapping lymphatic filariasis morbidities in 24 endemic districts of Ethiopia through the health extension program.Tropical medicine and health · 2024Article
- Evaluating alternative compounds for strongyloidiasis therapy: Novel insights from larval migration inhibition test.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Cost-effectiveness of sentinel screening of endemic diseases alongside malaria diagnosis: A case study in schistosomiasis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Community Feedback on Mass Medicines Administration for Neglected Tropical Diseases in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of debilitating diseases and conditions afflicting more than one billion people in impoverished communities. Control of these diseases is crucial to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 and the pledge to 'leave no one behind'. Relying on large-scale delivery of wide-spectrum drugs to individuals in at-risk communities irrespective of their health status, mass drug administration is a core strategy for tackling half of the NTDs targeted by the latest WHO roadmap (2021-2030). However, ethical challenges surround its implementation and long-term impact. This systematic review aims to give a comprehensive picture of the variety of ethical reasons for and against mass drug administration for NTD control and elimination, facilitating further debate in ethics and policy.
methodsPubMed and Web of Science Core Collection were searched for all relevant publications. Of the 486 retrieved records, 60 met the inclusion criteria for qualitative analysis. Ethical reasons discussing the topic at hand were extracted from full texts and synthesised through the Kuckartz method of qualitative content analysis.
resultsData extraction revealed 61 ethical reasons, of which 20 (32.7%) had positive, 13 (21.3%) had ambivalent and 28 (45.9%) had negative implications regarding mass drug administration for NTDs. The health benefits and cost-effectiveness of the measure were extensively highlighted. However, equity, autonomy and sustainability emerged as the domains with the most pressing ethical concerns. Many issues related to implementation are yet to be adequately addressed in policy documents.
conclusionsThis is the first systematic review of ethical reasons pertaining to mass drug administration for NTD control and elimination. Due to the diversity of included studies, no general recommendations can be made. Instead, context-specific strategies seem necessary. Alternative approaches tackling socioecological determinants of ill health are needed for long-term sustainability. Future research could benefit from contributions of non-Western philosophies and perspectives by local researchers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.