Children Without Worms


Children Without Worms is a program of the Task Force for Global Health and envisions a world in which all at-risk people are healthy and free of intestinal worms so they can develop to their full potential. To accomplish the vision of a worm-free world, CWW works closely with the World Health Organization, national Ministries of Health, nongovernmental organizations and private-public coalitions such as Uniting to Combat NTDs.

History

Children Without Worms was established in 2005-2006 as a partnership between Johnson and Johnson and the Task Force for Global Health. Initially called the Mebendazole Donation Initiative, CWW was the first program focused exclusively on reducing the burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections in school-age children in Africa, Asia, and Central America.

Objectives

CWW's mission is to enhance the health and development of children by reducing intestinal worm infections.
CWW's work focuses on three pillars:
Between 2006 and 2013, CWW managed the deworming medicine donations from Johnson and Johnson and GSK for soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Since 2013, CWW's strategy transitioned from one of drug donation to country engagement, partnerships and advocacy, and technical leadership.
CWW has provided technical support to the Ministry of Health in Bangladesh to strengthen their deworming program and continues to engage with countries like Kenya to strengthen their deworming efforts.
CWW serves as the secretariat for the STH Advisory Committee and the STH Coalition.
The STH Advisory Committee is an independent group of experts in Neglected Tropical Diseases, parasitology, epidemiology, child health, and education who convene once a year over two days to provide technical and scientific advice on STH control to national programs, researchers, funders and pharmaceutical donors to improve STH control efforts globally.
The STH Coalition was established in 2014 to bring together a cross-sectoral group of partners to accelerate efforts to control STH worldwide. With over 60 members, the STH Coalition members work together on advocacy, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, policy analysis and research to scale-up deworming efforts in endemic communities around the world.
CWW's funding comes from Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and other donors.

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis

is a neglected tropical disease as a result of infection of intestinal parasites such as roundworm, whipworm, hookworms, and pinworm/threadworm. Most prevalent in the tropical and subtropical regions of Subsaharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and China, the disease is an enormous burden on humanity, amounting to 135,000 deaths every year, and persistent infection of more than two billion people. The long-term impact is even worse. In these regions, the disease is the single most debilitating cause of intellectual and physical retardation. Thus it remains a relentless factor in poor socio-economic growth and human development.