Helping those who suffer from and are at risk of contracting neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)

From 2010-2018, Crown Agents acted as the Department for International Development’s (DFID) procurement agent for the Integrated Control of Schistosomiasis in Sub-Saharan Africa (ICOSA) project, working closely with strategic partners, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) team within Imperial College.

Schistosomiasis is parasitic infection and one of the most prevalent NTDs. It affects over 200 million individuals, but can be prevented and eliminated through the administration of inexpensive or donated medicines.

Our impact
To date Crown Agents has supplied over 200 million tablets to Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zanzibar, contributing to global efforts to eliminate the disease by 2030.

Our approach
We provided a supply chain service, procuring the drugs and medical consumables required for the treatment of schistosoma and delivered these where they are needed most across east, west and central Africa.

• We worked with various WHO pre-qualified and ERP certified manufacturers of Praziquantel.
• We have established framework agreements with all the manufacturers who have certified the quality of their product with the WHO.
• We kept in close contact with the WHO and our manufacturers to ensure good relationships, quality and value for money.