Folalumi Alaran
Nigeria has high prevalence rates of 583 out of 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in partnership with SightSavers Nigeria, through the National Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), Elimination Programme, have discovered that NTDs are endemic in 75.3% of the 774 LGAs.
National Coordinator FMOH for NTDs, Dr. Nse Akpan, discussing the overview of the LF Programme, emphasized that Nigerians living in rural areas and those who are economically underprivileged suffer greatly from these diseases.
He said, “ The essence of this gathering is to ensure that we have guidelines that speak toward management of mobility and disability induced by neglected tropical disease in the country.
“ Globally, over 70 countries are endemic for LF with 946 million people at risk of infection.”
Out of the six major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) detected in Nigeria, he noted that one of them had been completely eradicated in the nation since 2013, leaving only five NTDs left, which is set to be eliminated between now and 2030.
“ The World Health Organization (WHO) instructed that we must eliminate the remaining five Neglected Tropical Diseases and we should be able to eliminate one or two. But our dream in the country is to ensure that we eliminate all the five.
“ At least we have been able to interrupt in some states, in some local governments we stopped the transmission of these diseases, some we completely eliminated onchocerciasis in Nasarawa and in plateau State.”
He finished by adding that the elimination of neglected tropical disease NTD in Nigeria must be a collective effort by key stakeholders in the country, listing some ministries like Health, Water, Environment amongst others as major contributors to the eradication of these diseases in the country.
The National Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Programme (NLFEP) was established in 1997 with the mandate of eliminating LF as a public health problem. Nigeria has an estimated at-risk population of 121.7 million people (JRSM, 2023).
The major vectors of w bancrofti are mosquitos of the genus Culex (In urban and semi-urban areas), Anopheles (in rural areas of Africa) and Aedes (in islands of the Pacific).
The major chronic stages of the disease are Lymphoedema (swelling of lime limbs) Elephantiasis (advanced stage of Lymphoedema) and hydrocele (swollen scrotum).
Senior program manager NTD SightSavers, Ms. Anita Gwom, urged all partner States, the federal government, and well-meaning organizations to abide by the rules and eradicate LF from Nigeria by 2030, as instructed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
