Sight Savers International in collaboration with Kaduna State Ministry of Health has flagged off the distribution of over five hundred thousand doses of River Blindness drugs in Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
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The Senior Program Officer of the NGO, Mrs Tabitha Swandunio Kane at the flag off said the exercise became necessary due to recent survey that shows the spread of the disease in the area with little or no knowledge about it.
Tabitha explained that soon, about three million people will benefit from the drug administration in six Local government areas of Makarfi, Lere, Kaduna South, Kagarko, Kubau and Kachia.
“We decided to flag off the distribution of the medicine in Makarfi Local government despite it not being part of the Local governments that were at baseline prone to have River Blindness.”
“As a result of the post treatment
survey in 2022, we discovered that Makarfi is endemic for River Blindness, meaning that there is active transmission of Onchocerciasis (river blindness)and they have very little knowledge about it, hence our choice to create awareness and help eliminate the disease.”
The Senior Program officer mentioned that the National Onchocerciasis committee set up to eliminate the disease had recommended six rounds of treatments, twice yearly for three years.
She said the drugs administration targets children of five years of age and above, while calling on relevant stakeholders to join hands in eliminating the disease.
In a message, Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma Ahmed explained River Blindness symptoms to include severe itching around the body parts, disfiguring skin condition, and visual impairment which could result in permanent blindness.
She narrated that the state government has been fighting the disease in the past 28 years using Community Directed Treatments with Ivermectin (CDTI) with the support from African Programme of Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) and Sightsavers in 16 LGA’s within the state.
“In 2019, after about 20 round of non-stop Administration of Medicine for the prevention of River Blindness, an assessment survey was conducted and certified that, the State has succeeded in interrupting the transmission of the disease within the state.”
She appreciated all relevant stakeholders for the concerted effort to fight the disease, assuring that staff at the Primary Health Centers in the Local Government will be going round house to house to administer the drug in order to bring the disease to a standstill.
Present at the event were relevant stakeholders, government officials, traditional rulers and many more with highlights that included traditional dance, drama and other form of presentation.
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