The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, WHO, and other stakeholders say lack of adequate awareness and ownership has increased the prevalence of Neglected Tropical Diseases, NTDs, in Nigeria.
This was the agreement reached at the “Media Dialogue on Neglected Tropical Disease Control in Nigeria”, holding in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, southern Nigeria.
The National Coordinator of NTDs, Dr. Nseobong Akpan, said that Nigeria is battling with the management of 15 out of the 20 identified NTDs.
According to Dr Akpan, there are preventive and case management NTDs across Nigeria.
“The preventive NTDs are those tropical diseases can be prevented through cleanliness and other control measures such as Trachoma, Onchocerciasis and others while the case management NTDs such as leprosy, snakebites Yaws Rabies among others, are to be managed medically,” Dr Akpan stated.
He also noted that lack of funds, lack of awareness and epileptic release of funds for the elimination of NTDs are the major challenges the programme faces in Nigeria.
Giving an over view of activities in the Niger Delta, the UNICEF WASH Specialist, Mr. Bioye Ogunjobi, said that the terrain and the mindset of the people were a huge hindrance to the elimination of NTDs in the region.
Mr Ogunjobi blamed lack of political will and non release of counterpart fundings as a challenge.
Hr explained that the Nigerian NTDs programmes were mainly sponsored by partners, calling on the government to get more involved.
The WHO NTDs Focal Person, Dr Aliyu Suleiman, said that the Oganisation has been involved in the elimination of NTDs over the years and would continue to do so.
He added that the WHO spends millions of dollars annually to provide drugs for the prevention, management and treatment of NTDs in Nigeria.
The UNICEF Communication Specialist, Dr Geoffrey Njoku, commended the Nigerian Media for the intensed advocacy on NTDs.
Dr Njoku said that “the media dialogue intend to set an agenda for NTDs intervention in Nigeria and to saturate the media landscape with NTDs stories and reports.”
He however urged the Journalists not to relent in their effort to indulge the government on funding for Neglected Tropical Diseases in Nigeria.
About 122 million people in Nigeria are said to be at risk of getting Neglected Tropical Disease and no state is left out, only a few local governments.
Some of the Neglected Tropical Diseases include; Lymphatic Filariasis ( Elephantiasis), Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH), Onchocerciasis (River blindness), Trachoma (Granular Conjunctivitis) and Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia).
Mercy Chukwudiebere
