Safety in administering medicines for neglected tropical diseases

The objective of this manual is to provide practical tools, including training modules and job aids, to help national programmes for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) plan, prepareand monitor the safe administration of medicines for treatment of these diseases. The materials consolidate and emphasize critical aspects of existing guidance published by WHO; they do not make new recommendations.

This manual summarizes key issues related to the safety of NTD medicines and their administration, with a focus on essential medicines used in mass drug administration (MDA), also called preventive chemotherapy. It can be used as a standalone reference manual, but is intended to be used in conjunction with the accompanying training modules, which provide practical instruction, and the aide-mémoires. Versions of the aide-mémoires and training modules are available respectively for both (i) programme managers and district-level health officials (Annex 1 and Web Annex A); and (ii) community drug distributors and community health workers (Annex 2 and Web Annex B).