Integrated disease control programmes are increasingly being recommended. The activities required to combat one condition often complement those required for another; health personnel travelling to a remote village can undertake tasks related to more than just one disease.

It is thus pleasing to read a brief report of a short integrated control campaign which has been announced in Ethiopia - see story from the Walta Information Center here.

In the light of recent research in the Sudan (1-3) suggesting that trachoma may be much more common in the Horn of Africa region than previously recognised, it is also encouraging to see that it is malaria and trachoma activities that are being integrated.

Reference

1. Ngondi J, Ole-Sempele F, Onsarigo A, Matende I, Baba S, et al. (2006) Prevalence and Causes of Blindness and Low Vision in Southern Sudan . PLoS Med 3(12): e477 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030477
2. Ngondi J, Ole-Sempele F, Onsarigo A, Matende I, Baba S, et al. (2006) Blinding Trachoma in Postconflict Southern Sudan. PLoS Med 3(12): e478 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030478
3. King JD, Ngondi J, Gatpan G, Lopidia B, Becknell S, et al. (2008) The Burden of Trachoma in Ayod County of Southern Sudan. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2(9): e299. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000299