RESHAPE

Resilient and Sustainable Health Systems Approach for Podoconiosis Elimination

What is podoconiosis?

Podoconiosis is a non-infectious lower limb lymphoedema caused by prolonged barefoot exposure to volcanic red clay soils. It affects an estimated 4 million people in 27 countries globally, 19 of these in sub-Saharan Africa. It causes progressive leg swelling, pain, mental health consequences and severe social stigma among already-vulnerable subsistence farmers. In Ethiopia, the most affected country, annual costs of the condition are >$200million.

What can be done?

Evidence shows that simple, community-delivered care for podoconiosis and related lymphoedema conditions yields rapid, transformative impact with major improvements in disability, quality of life and productivity within just three months, at only £52 (€60) per patient. Combined with powerful geostatistical predictive techniques, this evidence provides the basis for an African regional network whose aim is to reverse unequal access to care and provide prevention and management of this devasting chronic disease.

What is RESHAPE?

Following approval by WHO of the formation of a Regional Podoconiosis Elimination Platform (RESHAPE) in March 2025, the RESHAPE network has been established, partnering with WHO AFRO, Footwork, Kikundi (the Community of Practice of NTD programme managers in the African Region), the Ethiopian National Podoconiosis Action Network, and the Centre for One Health at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. This will provide WHO AFRO with a permanent, regionally anchored base for the elimination network in a country with a history of Francophone-Anglophone bilingualism.

RESHAPE — Four Strategic Goals 2027-2031

Spearhead elimination using evidence-informed geospatial prediction, identify countries at high risk of podoconiosis based on environmental factors and supporting ground-truthing surveys.
Provide social science and implementation research support to national programmes, enabling WHO-recommended prevention and care to be tailored to each country’s unique cultural and health system needs.
Support cross-learning from patient groups in Ethiopia and Rwanda to enable the participation of affected people in co-design of new country programmes.
Bring two decades’ advocacy and policy experience to bear in preparing anddisseminatingtraining materials, policy briefs, country NTD Masterplans and media campaigns.

How can RESHAPE support you?

RESHAPE supports Programme Managers noting high prevalence of leg lymphoedema in areas that are non-endemic for lymphatic filariasis, and from those of known podoconiosis-endemic countries seeking expertise in integrating lymphoedema care into primary health care services.