Impact
Globally, more than 1 billion people suffer from one or more neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). A group of parasitic and bacterial diseases, NTDs cause severe disability among the world's poorest people. These ailments can lead to disfigurement, social isolation, economic hardship, and even death.
Since 2006, RTI has led NTD programs and worked with partners to reach over 65 countries with training, technical support, and resources to improve the impact and effectiveness of NTD services. In 2018, RTI committed $3 million of its own funding to accelerate research and develop innovations to eliminate NTDs.
Enhancing Mass Drug Administration with Rapid Qualitative Research and Practical Tools
MDA is an effective way to eliminate diseases, but often doesn’t reach everyone. Gathering information on reasons for people not being offered or not taking the treatments is time-consuming and costly. Integration of qualitative methods into NTD services has the potential to enhance MDA efforts. The study identifies the prevalent use of focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, while highlighting the need for more diverse and rapid qualitative methods. Recommendations include participatory approaches and better integration of findings into program design.
RTI developed an MDA guide that outlines a six-step process for rapid qualitative research that is easy to use at scale and within programmatic settings. The guide developed from this review aims to improve MDA by providing practical tools and templates, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between researchers and program implementers.
