What you should know about this indicator

  • Schistosomiasis is a painful and debilitating disease caused by parasitic worms of the species Schistosoma. It is transmitted by coming into contact with contaminated water, such as bathing or swimming in it or drinking it. It causes a variety of symptoms, from abdominal pain and bloody stool or urine to liver damage, kidney failure and cancer.
  • Schistosomiasis is most common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, especially in poor communities without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. It is classified as a by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • The WHO recommends for schistosomiasis, which means administrating safe and effective drugs to at-risk populations, regardless of whether individuals are infected or not. The WHO recommends that all school-age children and at-risk adults in endemic areas receive preventive chemotherapy.
  • This data shows how much of the at-risk population is receiving preventive chemotherapy for schistosomiasis. 100% means that every person at-risk for contracting schistosomiasis is receiving preventive chemotherapy, while 0% means that no one at-risk is receiving preventive chemotherapy. In rare cases, the number of people treated may exceed the number of people targeted, which can result in a coverage percentage greater than 100%.
Treatment coverage for schistosomiasis
Drug coverage out of estimated population who require it.
Source
World Health Organization (2025)with minor processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
June 25, 2026
Next expected update
June 2027
Date range
2006–2024
Unit
%

Sources and processing

World Health Organization – Preventive Chemotherapy (PC) Data Portal - Schistosomiasis

Progress towards achieving the Roadmap targets for control and elimination of the Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Retrieved on
June 25, 2026
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, PCT Databank - Schistosomiasis, World Health Organization (2025), https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases/data-platforms/pct-databank/schistosomiasis, accessed 25 June 2026.

Progress towards achieving the Roadmap targets for control and elimination of the Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Retrieved on
June 25, 2026
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, PCT Databank - Schistosomiasis, World Health Organization (2025), https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases/data-platforms/pct-databank/schistosomiasis, accessed 25 June 2026.

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

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To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Treatment coverage for schistosomiasis”, part of the following publication: Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser (2016) - “Global Health”. Data adapted from World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260706-181727/grapher/schistosomiasis-treatment-coverage.html [online resource] (archived on July 6, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Health Organization (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Health Organization (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Treatment coverage for schistosomiasis” [dataset]. World Health Organization, “Preventive Chemotherapy (PC) Data Portal - Schistosomiasis” [original data]. Retrieved July 6, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260706-181727/grapher/schistosomiasis-treatment-coverage.html (archived on July 6, 2026).

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