The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi Field Office has called on media practitioners to consistently raise public awareness about Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) to support efforts toward eliminating the scourge.
The call was made by Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, UNICEF Chief of the Bauchi Field Office, during a one-day media engagement on NTDs held on Thursday in Bauchi.
Dr. Rafique highlighted the critical role of the media in sensitizing the public on prevention, treatment, and participation in regular health campaigns targeting NTDs such as river blindness and trachoma. She emphasized that consistent and accurate reporting could influence positive health behavior and boost participation in mass drug administration and hygiene promotion exercises across communities.
Commending the Federal and State Ministries of Health for their ongoing interventions, she urged the public to adopt timely health-seeking behaviors and intensify efforts to prevent mosquito and fly breeding, which transmit some NTDs. She also identified poverty as a major driver of the diseases and called for collaborative action among government agencies, development partners, and the media to eliminate NTDs completely.
Dr. Rafique noted that Bauchi and Gombe States were close to achieving elimination targets and stressed that increased awareness would help sustain progress toward the goal.
In her presentation, Hauwa Abubakar, North-East Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said schistosomiasis is the second leading cause of death in the region after malaria. She explained that NTDs contribute to poor educational outcomes, low productivity, weakened immunity, malnutrition, stigma, and discrimination within affected communities.
Abubakar emphasized the need for sustained surveillance and public enlightenment to strengthen disease prevention and control, especially in vulnerable populations. She listed six common NTDs affecting Nigerians: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, trachoma, schistosomiasis, trichinosis, and hookworm, noting that house-to-house drug administration campaigns were ongoing to combat them.
Also speaking, Mr. Haruna Wakili, State Coordinator for NTDs at the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Board, said health posts had been established along state borders to support elimination efforts. He noted that snakebite is also classified among NTDs and called for expanded media coverage to raise awareness and reduce fatalities.
Wakili added that the state had intensified its health promotion campaigns to sustain the elimination drive and commended UNICEF for its continued support and partnership with the media.
