BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is one of the neglected tropical diseases targeted for elimination by 2030. Achieving disease elimination requires collaboration between stakeholders, country ownership and the involvement of community-level stakeholders. The state of stakeholder relationship determines the ease and timeliness of meeting disease elimination targets. Mapping stakeholder relationships is critical for assessing gaps in the schistosomiasis control program implementation, and providing a roadmap for improved stakeholder cohesion. The study aimed to measure the cohesiveness of the contact, collaboration and resource-sharing networks, across 2 local government areas in Oyo state, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used a Network Representative design for Social Network Analysis (SNA). The study was conducted within Oyo state, Nigeria using 2 Local Government Areas (LGAs): Ibadan North (urban) and Akinyele (rural). Stakeholders were identified using a link-tracing approach. Data was collected using Qualtrics software from stakeholders across the state, local government, healthcare, academia, and non-governmental organizations. Data was analysed using Gephi software for network cohesion across the three networks. RESULTS: The social network analysis revealed high clustering and low density across the three networks implying low cohesion across multiple stakeholder categories. The contact and collaborative networks were the most active with the lowest level of cohesion seen in the resource-sharing network. Stakeholders were more active in the rural LGA than the urban, and stakeholders within the organized governance and public health system were the dominant actors in the schistosomiasis control program. CONCLUSION: The low cohesion, high clustering and low network density among stakeholders within the schistosomiasis control program should be addressed in other to drive innovation and meet the WHO schistosomiasis elimination target.

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Designing new and inclusive diagnostic tools to detect Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) to achieve rational disease control requires a co-design process where end-users’ input is important. Failure to involve all potential end-users in new diagnostics for NTDs can result in low use and adoption failure, leading to persistent infection hot spots and ineffective disease control. There are different categories of potential end-users of new diagnostic tools for NTD control, and it is unclear if there are differences between the user efficiency, effectiveness, perception, and acceptability across these end-user categories. This study evaluated the usability, user perception, contextual factors affecting the user’s experience, and acceptability of a new digital optical diagnostic device for NTDs across three types of potential end users. A total of 21 participants were tested. Laboratory scientists, technicians, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) in training achieved similar scores on the usability and user perception questionnaires with no statistically significant difference between end-user categories. All participants also have high scores for the user perception domains which strongly correlate with the acceptability of the AiDx NTDx Assist device. This study indicates that, by providing digital diagnostic tools in combination with minimal training and support, CHEWs undergoing training and, by extension, CHEWs post-training, can be involved in the diagnoses of NTDs, potentially enhancing a community’s capabilities to diagnose, treat, and control NTDs. @en

Urinary schistosomiasis is a waterborne parasitic infection caused by Schistosoma haematobium that affects approximately 30 million people annually in Nigeria. Treatment and eradication of this infection require effective diagnostics. However, current diagnostic tests have critical shortcomings and consequently are of limited value to stakeholders throughout the health care system who are involved in targeting the diagnosis and subsequent control of schistosomiasis. New diagnostic devices that fit the local health care infrastructure and support the different stakeholder diagnostic strategies remain a critical need. This study focuses on understanding, by means of Q-methodology, the context of use and application of a new diagnostic device that is needed to effectively diagnose urinary schistosomiasis in Oyo State, Nigeria. Q-methodology is a technique that investigates subjectivity by exploring how stakeholders rank-order opinion statements about a phenomenon. In this study, 40 statements were administered to evaluate stakeholder perspectives on the context of use and application of potential new diagnostic devices and how these perspectives or viewpoints are shared with other stakeholders. Potential new diagnostic devices will need to be deployable to remote or distant communities, be affordable, identify and confirm infection status before treatment in patients whose diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis is based on self-reporting, and equip health care facilities with diagnostic devices optimized for the local setting while requiring local minimal infrastructural settings. Similarly, the context of use and application of a potential new diagnostic device for urinary schistosomiasis is primarily associated with the tasks stakeholders throughout the health care system perform or procedures employed. These findings will guide the development of new diagnostic devices for schistosomiasis that match the contextual landscape and diagnostic strategies in Oyo.

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Urinary schistosomiasis is a waterborne parasitic infection caused by Schistosoma haematobium that affects approximately 30 million people annually in Nigeria. Treatment and eradication of this infection require effective diagnostics. However, current diagnostic tests have critical shortcomings and consequently are of limited value to stakeholders throughout the health care system who are involved in targeting the diagnosis and subsequent control of schistosomiasis. New diagnostic devices that fit the local health care infrastructure and support the different stakeholder diagnostic strategies remain a critical need. This study focuses on understanding, by means of Q-methodology, the context of use and application of a new diagnostic device that is needed to effectively diagnose urinary schistosomiasis in Oyo State, Nigeria. Q-methodology is a technique that investigates subjectivity by exploring how stakeholders rank-order opinion statements about a phenomenon. In this study, 40 statements were administered to evaluate stakeholder perspectives on the context of use and application of potential new diagnostic devices and how these perspectives or viewpoints are shared with other stakeholders. Potential new diagnostic devices will need to be deployable to remote or distant communities, be affordable, identify and confirm infection status before treatment in patients whose diagnosis of urinary schistosomiasis is based on self-reporting, and equip health care facilities with diagnostic devices optimized for the local setting while requiring local minimal infrastructural settings. Similarly, the context of use and application of a potential new diagnostic device for urinary schistosomiasis is primarily associated with the tasks stakeholders throughout the health care system perform or procedures employed. These findings will guide the development of new diagnostic devices for schistosomiasis that match the contextual landscape and diagnostic strategies in Oyo.@en