Anambra State Government on Friday commemorated the 2024 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day, with a call on citizens of the state to assist the government in its drive to eliminate the diseases.
According to reports, 100 million Nigerians are estimated to be at risk of at least one NTD, with several million individuals affected by one of them.
These NTDs such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and noma disease have had a devastating impact on communities.
It is also reported that the effect of NTDs goes beyond health and well-being to economic prosperity, as the World Health Organization (WHO), has estimated that household income lost due to out-of-pocket health costs and wages lost due to NTDs globally is at least US$ 33 billion per year.
Addressing a press conference to mark the day in Awka, on Thursday, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Ben Obidike represented by the Director of Public Health in the Ministry Dr. Anaeme Afam, said that the day is being celebrated annually on the 30th of January, revealed that this year’s event marks the fifth celebration of NTD in the state.
Dr. Obidike noted that the day was another opportunity for relevant stakeholders to renew their focus in expanding advocacy and sensitization on the debilitating but preventable diseases of poverty, and revealed that Nigeria suffers Africa’s largest burden of neglected tropical diseases as almost all the local government areas in Nigeria have one case of NTD or another.
The Commissioner made it clear that the 2024 theme of the celebration which is “Unite To Act Towards Elimination Of NTD” was a global call for all persons, communities, organizations, and all nations to join hands in the fight against the disease to ensure possible elimination and eradication by the year 2030.
He further said that out of the four preventive chemotherapy NTDs under intervention, Anambra in collaboration with Carter Centre has successfully interrupted the transmission of two including river blindness and lymphatic filariasis through mass drug administration and vector control programs.
“Preventive chemotherapy is one of the main interventions used by national programmes to control and eliminate five neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) namely- lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, and trachoma.
“We wish to commend Governor Chukwuma Soludo for all his support to the ministry.
“However, citizens need to support this fight against NTDs,” he posited.
The Programme Officer, Anambra State for the Carter Center, Mrs. Attamah Egeonu who said that NTD’s are wreaking havoc in society, added that they have been doing an intervention on it since 1995 and called on all hands to be on deck to eradicate it.
The State Coordinator of Reproductive Health, Dr. Uju Okoye, the Head, Planning, Research and Statistics, in the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Edith Nwachukwu, the State Health Educator, Mrs. Uju Onwuegbusi among others attended the event.
The conference also featured the presentation of prizes to the best Community Directed Distributors (CDD) and road walk.
