Abstract:
Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat with the potential
to cause millions of deaths. There has been a tremendous increase in the use of antimicrobials,
stemming from preventive chemotherapy elimination and control programs addressing neglected
tropical diseases (NTDs). This study aims to identify the frequency of drug resistance for 11 major
NTDs and 20 treatment drugs within a specific period by systematically analyzing the study design,
socio-demographic factors, resistance, and countries of relevant studies. Methods: Adhering to
PRISMA guidelines, we performed systematic reviews of the major 11 NTDs to identify publications
on drug resistance between 2000 and 2016. A quality assessment tool adapted for evaluating
observational and experimental studies was applied to assess the quality of eligible studies. Results:
One of the major findings is that six NTDs have information on drug resistance, namely human
African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths,
and trachoma. Many studies recorded resistance due to diagnostic tests, and few studies indicated
clinical resistance. Although most studies were performed in Africa where there is the occurrence of
several NTDs, there was no link between disease burden and locations of study. Conclusions: Based
on this study we deduce that monitoring and surveillance systems need to be strengthened to enable
the early detection of AMR and the mitigation of its global spread.
