The Role of Community Participation in Fighting Schistosomiasis

Abstract

In 2009, the Moroccan Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization confirmed that the transmission of schistosomiasis had ceased in all previously endemic provinces of Morocco. This achievement couldn't have been achieved without the effective participation and engagement of local communities. In this chapter, studies of community participation strategies for schistosomiasis control in Akka oasis were reviewed. Southern Morocco was known to be a foci site for urinary schistosomiasis since 1937. Combined efforts between health officials and local community participation have achieved the elimination of this neglected tropical disease, where the last cases in these foci were recorded in the early 2000s. The results of this chapter can be used to increase awareness of the need for community participation in controlling neglected tropical diseases such as schistosomiasis.