By Tina George, Minna
The Niger Commissioner for Health and Hospital Services, Dr Muhammad Makunsidi, has disclosed that the state has completely eradicated guinea worm diseases, as one of the neglected tropical diseases.
He stated this at a press briefing to mark the 2021 World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, at the state Ministry of Health in Minna on Monday.
According to him, the last to have the disease was Paikoro local government, adding that government had been very proactive towards preventing its resurgence.
Makunsidi said that the eradication was also possible with the provision of potable water by the government across the state.
Guinea worm is caused by the parasitic worm dracunculus medinensis and is the largest of the tissue parasite affecting humans.
The commissioner stated that there is the endemicity of five neglected tropical diseases in the state spread across all the local government areas.
According to him, lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) is prevalent in 19 local government areas; onchocerciasis (river blindness) in 21 local government areas while schistosomiasis (soil-transmitted helminths) is in 25 local government areas and trachoma (eyelid infection) in two local government areas of the state.
Makunsidi said that activities conducted in the state to reduce the prevalence of the neglected tropical diseases include advocacy, training and retraining of health workers and basic education school teachers.
He added that the ministry of Health had intensified community mobilization and sensitization, mass administration of medicines, monitoring and supervision, data collection and report dissemination to relevant stakeholders.
The commissioner said that 21 local government councils affected with onchocerciasis endemic have been qualified for epidemiological rapid diagnostic test evaluation while six out of 19 local government areas with elephantiasis have passed preventive chemotherapy for neglected tropical diseases having reduced the prevalence.
The Director of Public Health, Dr Idris Ibrahim said that epidemiological survey of the neglected tropical diseases shows that about 50 per cent of people in the affected local government areas are suffering from the diseases.
“The statistics of the neglected tropical diseases in the state, show that 50 per cent of people were suffering from elephantiasis in 19 local government areas; 45 per cent suffering from onchocerciasis in 21 local government areas and 60 per cent in 25 local government areas are suffering from schistosomiasis”, he said.
One of the partners collaborating with the state government in eradicating neglected tropical diseases, Mitosath said that there has been great improvement in the measures taken to eradicate the NTDs, especially trachoma which has been reduced to 0.02 per cent in two local government area in the state.
The programme officer, Abaku Francis said that the NTDs control programme has made tremendous progress in the campaign to reduce NTDs prevalence in the state despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
