Schistosomiasis is one of 21 NTDs that affects approximately 250 million people worldwide, with 90% of cases occurring in Africa. People become infected through contact with contaminated freshwater, allowing the parasite to penetrate their skin..

Among the five species of schistosomiasis causing the disease, two are widely distributed on the African continent: Schistosoma haematobium, which infects the urogenitary tract, and Schistosoma mansoni, which infects the intestines and liver. Current diagnostics face challenges such as low sensitivity and quality issues, making it difficult to accurately assess the infection status. To address this issue, the GHIT Fund had decided to invest approximately JPY 780 million (USD 5.2 million¹) in two projects to develop new diagnostics for schistosomiasis led by Drugs & Diagnostics for Tropical Diseases, a nonprofit organization based in San Diego, California, USA,  in collaboration with Medical & Biological Laboratories Co., Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of clinical diagnostic kits and reagents, Nagasaki University Institute of Tropical Medicine, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.

The project will advance the development of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for Schistosoma mansoni, leveraging previous research findings and evaluating the diagnostic performance of the candidate RDT in endemic regions of Africa. In addition, the project team will develop a new serological RDT for Schistosoma haematobium. These tests are expected to be used as a low-cost, easy-to-use point-of-care (POC) diagnostic to support decision-making for Interruption of Transmission/Stopping Mass Drug Administration (MDA) and for subsequent surveillance of the disease.