Schistosomiasis: A Review of Other Public Health Interventions

Neglected tropical diseases are left, as their name suggests, abandoned without proper public health interventionist tools within afflicted communities. Millions of people globally interact with neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis (bilharzia), which can cause an immense burden depending on the region, the individual’s socioeconomic status, and the infrastructure established to help combat the conditions within the country. This article focuses on a literary review of three intervention points for reducing the risk of people coming into contact with schistosomiasis: a health education campaign, a downscaling farming strategy through market gardening, and differing water-based intervention approaches. Driving awareness and public health efforts toward reducing initial infection and reinfection for endemic schistosomiasis is a proposal that is often last considered due to accepted drug treatments when infected. Therefore, these recommendations are based on minimizing the infection rate and reinfection in endemic areas rather than preventing and treating schistosomiasis.