STH Facts and Figures
The following facts and figures are from WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record’s schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases: progress report, 2024. The information below pertains to STH.
Global Progress on Preventive Chemotherapy Requirements for Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis (2020–2024)
This table shows the number of countries requiring preventive chemotherapy (PC) for soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), along with PC requirements and coverage among all children (1–14 years), school-aged children (SAC, 5–14 years), and preschool-aged children (Pre-SAC, 1–4 years) from 2020 to 2024.
| Year | Change from 2020–2024 | ||||||
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Absolute | Percent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of countries requiring PC | 92 | 91* | 87† | 86‡ | 84§ | –8.0 | –8.7% |
| CHILDREN (SAC & PRE-SAC) | |||||||
| Number requiring PC (millions) | 1,022.1 | 914.3 | 897.9 | 876.2 | 883.3 | –138.8 | –13.6% |
| Number requiring PC and treated (millions) | 436.6 | 511.6 | 492.6 | 451.4 | 497.9 | +61.3 | +14.0% |
| Coverage | 42.7% | 56.0% | 54.9% | 51.5% | 56.4% | +13.7 | +32.1% |
| SAC | |||||||
| Number requiring PC (millions) | 731.3 | 653.7 | 632.6 | 623.1 | 627.5 | –103.8 | –14.2% |
| Number requiring PC and treated (millions) | 342.0 | 411.0 | 390.8 | 353.7 | 395.4 | +53.4 | +15.6% |
| Coverage | 46.8% | 62.9% | 61.8% | 56.8% | 63.0% | +16.2 | +34.6% |
| PRE-SAC | |||||||
| Number requiring PC (millions) | 290.8 | 260.6 | 265.3 | 253.1 | 255.8 | –35.0 | –12.0% |
| Number requiring PC and treated (millions) | 94.7 | 100.6 | 101.8 | 97.7 | 102.5 | +7.8 | +8.2% |
| Coverage | 32.6% | 38.6% | 38.4% | 38.6% | 40.1% | +7.5 | +23.0% |
* Sudan (Eastern Mediterranean Region) – PC no longer required following impact assessment.
† Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Cuba (Region of the Americas) – PC no longer required following review of sanitation data; Ghana (African Region) – PC no longer required following impact assessment.
‡ Mexico (Region of the Americas) – PC no longer required following review of sanitation data.
§ Djibouti (Eastern Mediterranean Region) – PC no longer required following impact assessment; Namibia (African Region) – PC no longer required following review of recent data (further details not provided).
Number of countries requiring preventive chemotherapy (PC)1
- In 2024, 84 countries required PC for STH, including 37 from WHO’s African region, 16 from the Americas, 14 from the Western Pacific, 8 from South-East Asia, 6 from the Eastern Mediterranean, and 3 from Europe.
- The number of countries requiring PC decreased by 2 (Djibouti (Eastern Mediterranean) and Namibia (Africa)) between 2023 and 2024. In Djibouti, PC was deemed no longer required following an impact assessment, and in Namibia, PC was deemed no longer required following the review of recent data (further details not provided).
Number of children requiring PC
- 883.3 million children required PC, including 627.5 million school-aged children (SAC, 5–14 years) and 255.8 million preschool-aged children (pre-SAC, 1–4 years).
- This represented an increase of 7.1 million children requiring PC compared to 2023, as reported in WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record: progress report, 2023.
Implementation and reporting
- Among the 84 countries requiring PC for SAC:
- 9 countries (11%) did not implement PC;
- 28 countries (33%) implemented PC with <75% national coverage;
- 19 countries (23%) implemented PC with national coverage of ≥75%; and
- 28 countries (33%) did not report.
- 24 of 84 countries (29%) reported for pre-SAC.
Treatment and coverage
- 497.9 million children requiring PC were treated, including 395.4 million SAC and 102.5 million pre-SAC. This resulted in coverage2 of 56.4% among all children, 63.0% among SAC, and 40.1% among pre-SAC.
- From 2023 to 2024, coverage among SAC increased from 57.7%3 to 63.0% (5.3 percentage point increase) and from 38.6% to 40.1% (1.5 percentage point increase) among pre-SAC.
- Across the 6 WHO Regions, SAC reported coverage ranged from 0.0% to 60.2%. Among pre-SAC, it ranged from 0.0% to 70.0%.
Progress towards STH elimination and adjustments in PC frequency
- Per WHO, “In the African region, 5 countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Zimbabwe) have already achieved the target for STH elimination and started preparing their dossiers…”
- Bangladesh (South-East Asia) and Viet Nam (Western Pacific) reduced PC frequency from twice a year to once a year.
- 653 implementation units in 12 African countries adjusted PC frequency following impact assessments.
- 320 IUs suspended PC or shifted to event-based PC; and
- 333 IUs now conduct PC once every two years.
1 The primary PC strategy for STH is the periodic treatment of school-aged (SAC, typically 5–14 years old) and preschool-aged (pre-SAC, typically 1–4 years) with an antihelminthic medicine (albendazole or mebendazole).
2 The number of children requiring PC treated divided by the number of children requiring PC. This is referred to as “national coverage” when measured at the country level.
3 WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record: progress report, 2023 indicated that SAC coverage was 56.8% in Table 1. However, the text in WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record: progress report, 2024 reported 2023 SAC coverage as 57.7% (“Meanwhile, the proportion of SAC treated for STH increased from 57.7% in 2023 to 63% in 2024.”)