02823nas a2200385   4500000000100000008004100001260005400042653001300096653002400109653001700133100001300150700001400163700001300177700002200190700001400212700001600226700001100242700001400253700001500267700001300282700001400295700001400309700001000323700001400333700001300347700001100360700001400371700001800385700001100403700001200414245013200426856012000558520173400678022002502412       2021                            d  bAmerican Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene10aVirology10aInfectious Diseases10aParasitology1 aKabore A1 aPalmer SL1 aMensah E1 aEttiegne-Traore V1 aMonteil R1 aSintondji F1 aTine J1 aTesfaye D1 aOgoussan K1 aStukel D1 aFuller BB1 aSanchez K1 aPou B1 aDembele B1 aWeaver A1 aReid S1 aMilord MD1 aKassankogno Y1 aSeim A1 aShott J00aRestarting Neglected Tropical Diseases Programs in West Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Best Practices  uhttps://www.ajtmh.org/downloadpdf/journals/tpmd/aop/article-10.4269-ajtmh.21-0408/article-10.4269-ajtmh.21-0408.xml3 a<jats:p>Countries across West Africa began reporting COVID-19 cases in February 2020. By March, the pandemic began disrupting activities to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as health ministries ramped up COVID-19–related policies and prevention measures. This was followed by interim guidance from the WHO in April 2020 to temporarily pause mass drug administration (MDA) and community-based surveys for NTDs. While the pandemic was quickly evolving worldwide, in most of West Africa, governments and health ministries took quick action to implement mitigation measures to slow the spread. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Act to End NTDs | West program (Act | West) began liaising with national NTD programs in April 2020 to pave a path toward the eventual resumption of activities. This process consisted of first collecting and analyzing COVID-19 epidemiological data, policies, and standard operating procedures across the program’s 11 countries. The program then developed an NTD activity restart matrix that compiled essential considerations to restart activities. By December 2020, all 11 countries in Act | West safely restarted MDA and certain surveys to monitor NTD prevalence or intervention impact. Preliminary results show satisfactory MDA program coverage, meaning that enough people are taking the medicine to keep countries on track toward achieving their NTD disease control and elimination goals, and community perceptions have remained positive. The purpose of this article is to share the lessons and best practices that have emerged from the adoption of strategies to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus during MDA and other program activities.</jats:p>  a0002-9637, 1476-1645