By Iyemah David
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said dependency will not help the country end Neglected Tropical Diseases, (NTDs), caused by bacteria, following the country’s current challenges.
Dr Ehanire said this at the country’s commemoration of the 2023 World Leprosy Day, on Monday in Abuja.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), said the disease predominantly affects the skin and peripheral nerves.
According to reports, if the disease is left untreated, it may cause progressive and permanent disabilities.
Ehanire said that Nigerians needed to prepare themselves to support efforts by the government to keep the 2030 targets of elimination of NTDs in the country.
“It is important to note that control and elimination of NTDs in Nigeria will significantly contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and all hands must be on deck to achieve this,” he said.
He said that the country has about 25 per cent of NTDs in Africa, with millions of persons at risk: Lymphatic Filariasis-122 million, Onchocerciasis- 33 million, Schistosomiasis- 20.8 million.
Others are: Soil-Transmitted Helminths- 29.4 million, Trachoma- 5.3 million and Human African Trypanosomiasis- 6.5 million people respectively.
He said the country has reviewed its NTD Masterplan 2023–2027, and enjoined stakeholders to use the document as a guide for the attainment of the goals.
“Nigeria supports efforts to engage other disease endemic nations, partners and stakeholders to contribute to the development of the ‘Kigali Declaration on NTDs.’
“As proof of our collective commitment to partnership for ownership of the strategic document, as in the WHO road map.
“Substantial progress has been made in the past decade, evidenced by the Guinea Worm Disease eradication in 2013, onchocerciasis transmission elimination in Plateau and Nasarawa States in 2019.
“This had imminent prospects of Kaduna, Kebbi and Zamfara States being free of the disease soon, leaving us with fewer endemic states, and over 28 million persons no longer needing treatment,” he said.
According to him, other achievements by the ministry include epidemiological mapping of preventable NTDs in all the 774 LGAs. Ongoing Mass Administration of medicines in school-based and community deworming programmes,
“Mass Drug Administration for Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis.
“106 of 126 Trachoma endemic treatment and attaining elimination threshold, with 30 million persons, who were at risk of going blind from trachoma, reducing their risk to about 3.5 million.
“The NTD programme has managed 70 per cent of 200,000 persons in the backlog for trachoma surgeries,” he explained.
He said that the National Policy and Training Manuals on Snakebite management developed along with procurement of Anti-Snake venom (ASV) and Anti-rabies vaccines and distributed to designated Health Facilities in all six geopolitical zones.
He said that a case search for yaws was conducted in three communities in Plateau and Nasarawa States and over 40 cases were found. Noting that further case searches was ongoing in Borno, Bauchi, Kebbi and Taraba States.
Dr Aliyu Suleiman, National professional officer, NTD, World Health Organization (WHO), said that in 2022, the country conducted an assessment for lymphatic filariasis in 200 LGAs out of 583 endemic LGAs.
“As of today, we have less than 300 LGAs needing assessment before stopping mass drug administration for this disease,” he said.
Suleiman said that the health organisation was advocating for NTD stakeholders and the country to keep NTD services accessible through innovation and strengthen NTD integration.
He said that a cross-sector collaborations and mainstreaming for stronger country ownership, accountability and invest sustainably in NTDs was needed for the best returns.
According to him, we ask that the country to stay committed to the delivery on the NTD road map 2021-2030, especially with the launch of the 2023-2027 master plans.
The Minister of State for Health, Mr Joseph Ekumankama, said that efforts put in place by the government to tackle these diseases have started yielding results as the burden of these diseases was reducing drastically.
Ekumankama said that he was optimistic that with the rate at which the government was tackling these diseases, the country would soon meet up with the global target of eliminating some of these diseases before the end of 2030.
