Understanding experiences of neglected tropical diseases of the skin: a mixed-methods study to inform intervention development in Ethiopia

Handling editor: Emma Veitch

Correction notice: This article has been corrected to fix the co-author’s name as Kibur Engdawork.

Collaborators: SHARP Institutions: Addis Ababa University, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. SHARP Steering Committee: Yaw Amoako, Endalamaw Gadisa, Mirgissa Kaba, Saba Lambert (Secretary), Michael Marks, Richard Phillips, Rachel Pullan, Steve Walker (Chair), Dorothy Yeboah-Manu. Named SHARP Applicants: Sinead Langan, David Mabey, Vanessa Yardley, Jennifer Palmer, Catherine Pitt, Elizabeth Allen. Other Workstream leads: Collins Ahorlu, Kidist Bobosha, Eric Koka, Maria Zuurmond. SHARP collaboration members: Fikregabrail Aberra Kassa, Anthony Ablordey, Anita Achiaa Gyekye, Emmanuel Afreh, Abigail Agbanyo, Esther Amon, Abraham Kwabena Anang, Adwoa Asante-Poku, Ruth Canter, Teklu Cherkose, Ruth Dede Tuwor, Giulia D’Odorico, Kibur Engidawork, Mehari Getaneh, Katherine Halliday, Getachew Kebebew, Sinead Langan, David Mabey, Bernadette Morkporkpor, Iris Mosweu, Emmanuel Narh, Dorcas Opai-Tetteh, Yohannes Michael, Amel Mohammed, Fewzia Shikur Mohammed, Tara Mtuy, Shimelis Doni Nigusse, Maja Niksic, Jacob Novignon, Edmond Okloo, Daniel Okyere, Charles Opondo, Michael Oppong, Samantha Owen, Lucy Owusu, Ishaque Siam, Ingrid Sobel, Feleke Tilahum, Joseph Timothy, Joseph Tuffour, Abay Woday, Abebaw Yeshambel, Adelaide Forkuo- Boadu, Derrick Kontoh, Portia Boakye Okyere, Jojo Cobbinah.

Contributors: Conceptualisation and study design: MK, YH, TC, GK, SL, KEH, MZ, RLP, SLW, CP, EG, MM, JP. Funding acquisition: MK, SL, RLP, SLW, CP, EG, MM, JP. Data collection: YH, TC, GK, AW. Data curation: YH, TC, GK, FAK, GM, TN, KE, ZB. Investigation, methodology and formal analysis: MK, YH, AYA, TC, GK, ZB, AW, KEH, MZ, RLP, SLW, CP, EG, MM, JP. Writing—original draft preparation: MK, YH, AYA, RLP, SLW, CP, JP. Writing—review and editing: all authors. Guarantor of the study: MK.

Funding: The Skin Health Africa Research Programme is funded by the Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation (RIGHT) Programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR200125) of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Patient and public involvement: Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Author note: The SHARP collaboration formed in response to a funding call on severe stigmatising skin diseases by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research, drawing on the ideas of academic staff at five institutions in Ethiopia, Ghana and the UK for whom skin NTDs has been a long-term interest. Our research award has included funded time to support master’s and doctoral students at AHRI and AAU to carry out their skin NTD research and many of these students are included as co-authors in this article. This article is the product of a large and diverse multicultural and multidisciplinary team who have had several years together to design this formative research, reflect on the findings with stakeholders and then co-design and implement follow-on interventions with the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia and endemic communities to address skin NTDs.

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