Eliminating Human African Trypanosomiasis in the three (formerly) Bandundu provinces, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The project is concerned primarily with making a substantial expansion of the active and passive screening capacity for HAT in Bandundu, using the innovative approaches we developed in previous grants. This includes 1) house-to-house visits by individual health workers as a more cultural-responsive approach to ensure maximal screening uptake, 2) the use of digital tools for geo-referenced data capture linked to a decision support system for targeting the HAT screening activities, 3) quality control mechanisms of all diagnostic and data management procedures. Working within a 3-year time frame, we aim to increase adequate screening coverage from the current 1.1 million to 3.3 million persons at risk. The second aim of the project is to build PNLTHA capacity for tsetse control using “Tiny Targets” with the eventual aim of implementing vector control in areas where screening alone is predicted not to achieve the elimination goals.