River Blindness: Kaduna, Sightsavers inaugurates mass administration of drug

On Nov 2, 2024

The Kaduna State Government in collaboration with Sightsavers, an NGO, on Friday inaugurated the mass administration of drug against river blindness in Makarfi, Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state.

The exercise was to prevent and eradicate river blindness known as onchocerciasis in the state.

River Blindness is a parasitic tropical disease that affects the skin and eyes.

The disease is spread by repeated bites from infected black flies. It’s most common in those who live in remote African villages. People who travel and volunteer in these areas are also at risk.

The Senior Programme Officer of Sightsavers, Tabitha Kane, at the inauguration, said that Makarfi was discovered to be endemic for river blindness, which means there is active transmission of the disease in the area.

She said people in the area needed to be aware of the disease and accept its medication for better health.

Kane said that the National Onchocerciasis Elimination Committee (NOEC) had recommended six rounds of treatment adding that the treatment would be done twice annually.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma Ahmed, said that a recent survey in the state, showed that six local government areas namely, Makarfi, Kachia, Kagarko, Kauru, Lere and Kaduna south have active cases of river blindness.

“At this junction, the Federal Ministry of Health and Kaduna State Ministry of Health, joined forces with Sightsavers to fight the disease within the state.

“In 2023, NOEC and the Kaduna state ministry of health agreed to continue with the mass administration of drugs against the disease in the six affected LGA’s,” she said.

Ahmed, who was represented by the Director-General, Kaduna State Bureau for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (KADBUSA), Joseph Ike, said that medical personnel would be going from house to house to distribute the medicines.

She urged residents to cooperate with the medical staff and ensure they collected the medication, noting that the drug was 99.9 per cent safe for individuals aged five years and above.

The commissioner, however, added that children under the age of five, pregnant women, seriously sick persons, breastfeeding mothers and stunted growth children were exempted.

Speaking, the state Coordinator of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Zainab Haruna described river blindness as a parasitic disease from micro-filarial worms, which moves around the human body.

She said the parasite induces intense inflammatory response which affects the eyes and skin causing itching, gradual visual loss and permanent blindness.

According to her, the recommended medicine for the prevention and treatment of the disease is Ivermectin(Mectizan) which she said was distributed to the six affected LGAs in the state.

Meanwhile, the District Head of Gubuci, a community in Makarfi LGA, Bello Lawal ,has urged his people to ensure they collected the medicine as it was safe and meant to improve their health.

He commended the state government and Sightsavers for bringing the programme to Makarfi.

Lawal said that the traditional and religious leaders in the area would continue sensitising the people to get the medicine.

NAN/Wumi