No fewer than 2 million cases of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) have been treated so far by the Ondo State Government in about 700 communities across the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr (Mrs) Folukemi Aladenola made this known during the flagging off of the commemoration of the 2024 World NTDs Day themed “Unite to act towards elimination of NTDs.”
In her address, Dr Aladenola described Neglected Tropical Diseases as a diverse group of conditions caused by varieties of pathogens and are associated with devastating health, social and economic consequences and are mainly prevalent in impoverished areas.
She disclosed that NTDs affects about 1 billion people while the number requiring NTDs interventions worldwide are about 1.6 billion. About 100 million people suffer from the diseases in Nigeria, out of which about 1 million cases are in Ondo state. She listed the prevalent NTDs in Ondo state as Schistosomiasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis and soil transmitted helminth.
Speaking on the various intervention Ondo State Government has put in place, the Permanent Secretary said the government has carried out interventions and collaboration with Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH), United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and other partners to reduce NTDs in the state. She disclosed that about 1million citizens from 15yrs and above were treated with Ivermectin for Onchocerciasis while another round of treatment was carried out for Schistosomiasis for school age children between the ages of 5-14 in 13 Local Government Areas in the state.
She averred that the state has carried out treatment for a total of 2,706,45 persons in 700 communities with the achievement of 76.4 percent of geographical coverage.
The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Mrs Modupe Dosunmu noted in her goodwill message that despite the progress that have been made in NTDs elimination, Africa still has about 40% NTDs burden while charging that there was need to overcome the challenges that are slowing down the progress of eliminating the disease.
She, however, informed the gathering that WHO has unveiled a new blueprint to drive the region strategy towards ending the disease across Africa.
The representative of the zonal coordinator of NTDs of the Federal Ministry of Health sought for support from government, partners and Local Government in combatting NTDS saying that eliminating the disease is a collective fight.
The State Coordinator, Ondo NTDs, Mrs Olanike Oladipupo noted that with over one million cases in Ondo State, there is still more to be done. She appreciated those working on the projects in Ondo state.
As part of the activities lined up for the World NTDs day, there was a sensitization and engagement meeting with ipogun community in Ifedore Local Government Area of the state and a health walk to market places in the state capital.
(Courtesy: Bisi Lawani, Ondo State Ministry of Health)
