The FCT Department of Public Health, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) unit, has advised residents of Gwagwalada community to begin to promote personal and environmental hygiene.
Dr Eunice Ogundipe, Coordinator, NTDs unit, FCT Public Health, gave the advice during an outreach for the treatment of Schistosomiasis, a disease among the NTDs.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the community outreach was jointly carried out by Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria (PPSN) and the Federal Ministry of Health.
Other diseases of NTDswhich prompted the visit by the officials at the community are soil transmitted helminthiasis, onchocerciasis (River blindness) and lymphatic filariasis.
Ogundipe, however, said that Gwagwalada town was one of the endemic towns in the FCT having high cases of schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminthiasis which could simply be described as intestinal worms.
She said that the town had a high burden for those diseases, adding that the department was also in the town to commemorate the 5th year anniversary of World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in the FCT.
“We deem it fit to come to Gwagwalada to treat community members in order to reduce the load of this intestinal worms.
“There is need for this people to promote personal and environmental hygiene; everybody is aware now that NTDs strives in an unhygienic environment, a poverty accounted environment.
“NTDs is associated with a community with poor sanitation, poorly built houses, anywhere that there is lack of good water sources, NTDs strives in all these areas.
“There is need for the residents of this community to pay attention to their environmental and personal hygiene in order to lift the burden of NTDs,” she stressed.
The theme for the 2024 NTDs day says: “We should unite, act to eliminate NTDs.”
She added that the only way to unite, act and eliminate this diseases was by promotion of personal and environmental hygiene.
Dr Yoila Malann, Chairman, State Technical Advisory Committee (STACOM) for NTDs, stated that NTDs infections diseases were more than 20 in number.
Malann, who is a Professor of Parasitology, University of Abuja, said the officials were in Gwagwalada community to create awareness about those diseases and to mobilise residents to have the knowledge of their prevention.
“Knowledge is key, knowledge is power as it is often said, if the people are mobilised and they know it, there are certain actions they will take that will help in curtailing these diseases and their infection.
“If they are infected, there is a cure for it but beyond that, prevention is better than cure; if they know that these diseases are preventable, it becomes very easy for them to be infected.
“What we are trying to say is that personal hygiene is crucial, taking care of their personal hygiene, using clean toilet, using water to wash their hands effectively before eating and doing some activities will help in curtailing NTDs infection.
“In FCT, we do disease mapping, we go to communities, verifiy, examine what are the prevailing diseases among the NTDs infection that are there.
“In FCT we have four of these diseases that are key to our management which we have also given them the knowledge and medicine,” he said.
He also noted that “some community members go to water bodies for different activities; some for swimming, some for bathing, some for fishing, and some for sand harvesting which make them to be prone to NTDs infectious diseases.
Dr Comfort Olanrewaju, Department of Biological Science, University of Abuja, noted that NTDs were public health challenges and advised the residents of Gwagwalada to be aware of the diseases and take precautionary measures against them.
Olanrewaju who is the FCT Chapter Coordinator of PPSN, stated that the society always researched and looked around for areas where there were some parasites or some diseases of public health concerns.
She said that the society was always taking further steps to inform people about the ways to take, to guard against the diseases.
Alhaji Mohammed Lakayi, the District Head of Gwagwalada, appreciated the officials for the outreach.
Lakayi, who represented the Agoma of Gwagwalada, said the community heads would take further steps to educate the people on hygiene. (NAN)
By Aderogba George
