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=International Alliance for the Control of Scabies= The International Alliance for the Control of Scabies, established in 2012, is an international non-profit organisation that brings together researchers, clinicians and public health experts in an effort to improve the global control of human scabies, a parasitic skin infection caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. The Alliance is based in Melbourne, Australia, and consists of over 70 members from more than 15 different countries.

The aims of the Alliance include defining relevant research priorities that will support the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of scabies, as well as developing policy and disease management recommendations. Another core role of the Alliance is to advocate and ensure scabies is widely acknowledged as a serious public health issue, especially in lower and middle income countries. As a result of the Alliance's efforts, the significance of scabies as a global health issue was acknowledged by the World Health Organization in 2013 when it was added to the WHO's official list of neglected tropical diseases.

Community control of scabies
Scabies is highly endemic in many developing countries, where it tends to be particularly problematic in rural and remote areas. In such settings community wide control strategies are required to reduce the prevalence of this disease, as treatment on an individual patient basis is ineffective due to the high likelihood of reinfection. Therefore large-scale mass drug administration strategies may be required where coordinated interventions aim to treat whole communities in one concerted effort. Although such strategies have shown to be able to significantly reduce the burden of scabies in these kinds of communities , debate remains about the best strategy to adopt, including the choice of drug.

The resources and know-how required to set up and implement such large-scale interventions in a way that they are cost-effective and sustainable are significant. Furthermore, since endemic scabies is largely restricted to poor and remote areas, it is a public health issue that has not attracted much attention from policy makers and international donors. Recently the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies, which was established in 2012 and brings together over 70 researchers, clinicians and public health experts from more than 15 different countries, has managed to bring the global health implications of scabies to the attention of the World Health Organization. Consequently, the WHO has included scabies on its official list of neglected tropical diseases and other neglected conditions. This signifies an important step in acknowledging the tremendous burden of scabies in low and middle-income countries, a crucial precursor to an increase of concerted efforts to reduce the burden of scabies on a global scale.