Many vaccines and drugs hold the promise of reducing mortality and morbidity among pregnant women and infants living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, sufficient information on the safety of drugs and vaccines in pregnant women is rarely available at the time of product licensure or approval.
Helminth control programmes based on preventive chemotherapy against soiltransmitted helminthiases and schistosomiasis are continuing to scale up. In 2021, the global coverage of preventive chemotherapy reached 62.2% for soil-transmitted helminthiases and 40.3% for schistosomiasis; more than 650 million individuals were treated with albendazole and mebendazole for soil-transmitted helminthiases and with praziquantel for schistosomiasis.