The Federal Ministry of Health has advised on the need for regular hand-washing to eliminate some of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
The Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr Chukwuma Anyaike gave this advice at a meeting with health stakeholders from the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja on Friday.
The event was a feedback/ debriefing meeting on Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) impact assessment survey in the area council.
The debriefing meeting was to ascertain the impact assessment of the 2014 baseline survey conducted across the six Area Councils of the FCT, where some NTDs were discovered to be endemic in the FCT area council.
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Anyalke, represented by the Director of NTDs in the Ministry, Dr Adebayo Peters said most of these NTDs would be a thing of history if the residents of the area councils imbibed the spirit of regular hand washing
He also encouraged all the health stakeholders from the area councils to work with community leaders for awareness on hand-washing smooth activities.
Anyalke also added that the debriefing was necessary to ascertain whether the public health department of the FCT was making progress or not.
He noted that this would determine whether to continue the treatment or not.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended that after five rounds of treatment, which we have done in all these area councils, we must assess whether the treatment is effective or not.
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“We thank the donors for always standing by us, supporting us in the FCT for trying to eliminate Schistosomiasis in line with WHO recommendation by 2030, The essence of this assessment is as well, to find out whether we are progressing or not,” he said.
The Director of the FCT Public Health Department, Dr Doris John thanked representatives of the Area Councils in the FCT for their efforts in trying to eliminate NTDs in the city.
She also commended the Federal Ministry of Health for its constant support to FCT Public Health Department, as well as the Rural and Water Sanitation Agency (RUWASA).
John also urged all the stakeholders to join hands together and achieve the elimination of NTDs in the FCT and Nigeria.
