Mainstreaming control interventions for neglected tropical diseases into the health system: a scoping review protocol

Introduction: The WHO neglected tropical diseases (NTD) roadmap (2021-2030) proposed a shift in approach to addressing NTDs through accountability for impact, implementing integration across NTDs, mainstreaming in national health systems and ensuring country ownership. However, a major challenge has been the dearth of evidence on how to implement this shift in a resource-limited setting. The objective of this scoping review is to understand the extent and type of evidence on the mainstreaming or integration of programmes and/or interventions against NTDs into the national health system.

Methods: Research articles of any methodology, series, evaluations and reports published from 1995 in the English language on any peer-reviewed platforms, and WHO, universities and government or implementing partners websites that report and discuss mainstreaming or integration implementation practices or experiences of any interventions against NTDs into the health system will be included. The main databases searched on 30 October 2024 were Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Global Health (Ovid), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and CENTRAL on the Cochrane Library (Wiley), and WHO Global Index Medicus. Following piloting, screening and data extraction will be undertaken independently by at least two people. Any disagreements that arise between the reviewers at each stage of the screening and selection process will be resolved through discussion, or with an additional reviewer/s. Thematic analysis will be conducted guided by the project INTEGRATE framework and the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative conceptual framework. Key information or evidence relevant to the mainstreaming of interventions against NTDs into the health system such as mainstreamed interventions and the level of health system where the mainstreaming occurred, the effectiveness of the mainstreaming, contextual differences in health system organisation between settings, and challenges and promising practices will be summarised.

Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval will not be sought as our review will only include published data. The findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and will be disseminated at national and international research and programme review platforms.