Progress achieved in the elimination of schistosomiasis from the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia.

Among the inhabitants of the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia, the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma haematobium infection have been kept very low for several years, by sustained control efforts. The success of the interventions, which were based on case finding, the treatment of infected individuals, and the chemical and environmental control of freshwater snails, led, in mid-2002, to a strategy to eliminate human infection with S. haematobium from Jazan. The strategy, which was based on regular chemotherapy, snail control (made easier by the focality of transmission in the area) and health education, with screening at primary-healthcare centres, by mobile teams and at diagnostic units, appears to have been successful. No infected snails can now be found in the region and new cases of human infection with S. haematobium are only being detected in border villages (and are attributed to infections beyond the region, in areas where active transmission is still taking place). Total elimination appears possible if the health authorities in neighbouring areas can be persuaded to adopt a similar strategy of control.