A new regional alliance has been launched to help countries widen access to schistosomiasis treatment for preschool-aged children, beginning with work already under way in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. The Arpraziquantel Access Alliance is intended to help governments move from initial introduction of a child-specific medicine towards sustainable scale-up. It is a coordination initiative, not an announcement that treatment is already reaching every child who may need it.
From initial introduction to wider access
The alliance is co-chaired by the United Nations Development Programme and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD. Its inaugural meeting took place on 14 October and brought together 27 participants from 16 organisations and institutions, including representatives of the five governments involved in the early work.
The immediate purpose is to give countries and partners a shared forum for exchanging practical experience, aligning technical support and directing investment towards common problems. Its stated priorities include integrating the medicine into national policies and programmes, forecasting demand, generating evidence, providing technical assistance and developing sustainable financing and resource-mobilisation plans.
That focus reflects the next stage facing countries that have begun to introduce the treatment. The work so far has included trying different delivery strategies, training health workers, engaging communities, linking treatment to routine health services and starting policy changes. The alliance is meant to draw lessons from those efforts rather than prescribe a single delivery model for every setting.
Why younger children are the focus
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that affects more than 250 million people worldwide, with a particularly heavy burden in sub-Saharan Africa. When it is not treated, it can contribute to anaemia, malnutrition, stunted growth and impaired cognitive development. Young children have historically faced a particular access gap: an estimated 50 million preschool-aged children have been left out of treatment programmes because available medicines were not well suited to their needs.
Arpraziquantel, often shortened to arPZQ, was developed specifically for this age group. The dispersible formulation is designed to make dosing more precise for children of different body weights and to be more acceptable than conventional praziquantel. In 2025, it was added to the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines for Children as a therapeutic alternative to praziquantel for treating schistosomiasis in preschool-aged children.
That listing is a regulatory and policy milestone, but it does not settle the delivery questions that countries must address. The medicine received a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency in 2023 and was added to the World Health Organization’s list of prequalified medicines in 2024. Decisions on national policy, procurement, funding and local delivery still determine whether a child can receive treatment.
What the alliance is expected to do
During the October meeting, country representatives shared progress, lessons and priorities for the next phase. They identified the need to move beyond initial introduction towards wider and sustainable access for children who need treatment. They also highlighted the importance of national plans, financing and data that can support advocacy and investment decisions.
Over the coming months, the participating stakeholders are expected to refine a shared plan of action and set priorities for 2027. Further evidence on cost effectiveness and public-health impact is also expected to inform national planning. Those steps matter because early implementation experience can show that a medicine can be introduced, while longer-term scale-up depends on reliable systems, funding and country-led choices.
The launch therefore creates a vehicle for regional coordination around a treatment that has already entered early use in five countries. Its progress should be judged by the practical decisions and delivery capacity that follow, rather than by the launch alone.
