Nasarawa State Government Partners With Carter Centre to Fight NTDs
The Government of Nasarawa State has gone into partnership with The Carter Centre to fight Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in the State.
The revelation was made by Nasarawa State’s Commissioner for Health, Pharmacist Ahmed Baba Yahaya during a press conference held to mark the occasion of World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) day in Lafia.
The Honourable Commissioner stated that of all the NTDs, Nasarawa State is endemic for five which include Onchocerciasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, Trachoma and Soil Transmitted Helminths.
He said that although mapping is yet to be done for the other diseases, the government of Nasarawa State along with its supporting partner, The Carter Centre are leaving no stone unturned in the fight against the deadly diseases.
Pharmacist Baba Yahaya also revealed that Plateau and Nasarawa States are the only two states in the country setting the wonderful pace in the fight against the NTDs, having successfully interrupted the transmission of three of the diseases namely onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis and trachoma.
Listing the achievements resulting from the partnership in the year 2019, the commissioner said they were able to train 45 local integrated health team members, 225 health facility staff, 611 community directed distributors, 2,153 teachers, 42 school supervisors and 7 social mobilization officers.
According to him, the state also received 502,700 tablets of mebendazole and 194,984 tablets of praziquantel from the Federal Ministry of Health which was used to treat school-aged children.
Speaking about plans for 2020, Pharmacist Baba Yahaya said the state with support from the Federal Ministry of Health and The Carter Centre, will train even more personnel and provide treatment for school aged children for schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminthes.
