Enugu State Government says it is committed to wiping out Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in rural communities as part of plans to lift residents out of poverty.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, disclosed this in an address on Thursday in Enugu as the state celebrates 2026 World NTD Day with massive publicity and roadshows.
He noted that the state would not rest on its responsibility to continue on its hard-earned “huge progress” it had made in dealing with some NTD diseases over the years through massive advocacy and investments.
“The Enugu State Ministry of Health aligns with this year’s theme: “Unite, Act, Eliminate towards achievement of the SDGs”, as we join the World in marking 2026 World NTD Day.
“We want to ensure that all stones are turned and any NTD disease eliminated in the state remains totally eliminated without any form of its resurgence.
“As a state, we are exploring better ways of elimination and clear cut clinical and health surveillance monitoring involving our partners and lead research institutes to achieve this.
“The state government believe that it takes a healthy and productive residents to achieve the state target of growing it economy from $4 billion to $30 billion,” he said.
Ugwu said that NTDs were a diverse group of more than 20 diseases and the state had been actively contending with five of them and had eliminated two before now- River Blindness and Sleeping Sickness.
According to him, these diseases, caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and others, are associated with chronicity, morbidity, disability, disfiguring and stigma.
He said, “The good news is that there are mass preventive drugs and surgeries for some of them made free by the government and her partner, the Carter Centre, Enugu.
“The state government and its 17 local government councils have continue to champion Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects as an essential tool to control and eliminate the scourge of NTD diseases in rural communities.”
The commissioner appreciated the Carter Centre for over the years building strong advocacy and professional capacity that had enabled the state eliminate some NTDs as well as given free treatment and surgeries to residents.
Earlier, the Executive Director of Carter Centre, Dr Abel Eigene, thanked the state government for its partnership which ensured that the centre achieved its mandate and had smooth operations in the state.
Eigene noted that the centre would continue to work in partnership with the state government and her people to see that “NTD is successful kicked out of Enugu State.”
“All hands need to be on the deck and we continue to work as a team to see that our land is liberated from NTDs and its negative side effects,” he said.
