Operational Research

Problem-solving research is needed to increase the effectiveness of LF elimination globally. Problems encountered by country programmes need scientific-based and practical solutions. The Global Alliance explores these scientific research questions. An active research community linked closely with country programmes responds to current problems and anticipated barriers.

Currently, operational research efforts focus on:

• Outcomes research in clinical management
• Behavioral research to ensure community compliance
• Essential diagnostic tools and drug development
• Alternative techniques for monitoring and evaluating programmes
• Impact of vector control techniques
• Programme integration with related public health activities
• Programme impact on health systems
• Economic evaluation of elimination and treatment programmes

Click here to see a strategic research plan, published in December 2004 by The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, which was developed with input from over 90 experts. The plan lays out the way forward for research priorities in the field of lymphatic filariasis.

Click here to access www.filariasis.net, an open access website that holds scientific publications and reports related to research on LF.

Click here to access the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases site at http://www.who.int/tdr/diseases/lymphfil/default.htm. It includes articles on prior research on LF, including drug distribution strategies and the role of support groups in disease management.

Click here to access The Filarial Genome Network at http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/mbx/fgn/filgen.html, an international initiative to coordinate genome research on the filarial nematode parasites of humans.