By Kemi Olatunde

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Over two million people have been treated in about 700 communities across Ondo State on various Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr (Mrs) Folukemi Aladenola made this known during the flag off of the commemoration of the World NTDs day themed “Unite to act towards elimination of NTDs” in Akure.

Aladenola described Neglected Tropical Diseases as a diverse group of conditions caused by varieties of pathogens which according to her are associated with devastating health, social and economic consequences, noting that they are mainly prevalent in impoverished areas.

Aladenola said NTDs affect about 1billion people while the number requiring NTDs interventions worldwide are about 1.6 billion adding that about 100 million people suffer from the diseases in Nigeria out of which about 1 million cases are in Ondo state.

She listed the prevalent NTDs in Ondo State as Schistosomiasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis and soil transmitted helmith.

Speaking further, the Permanent Secretary said that government has carried out interventions and collaboration with Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH), United Nations Children Education Fund ( UNICEF) and other partners to reduce NTDs in the state saying “about 1million citizens from 15years and above were treated with Ivermectin for Onchocerciasis and another round of treatment was carried out for Schistosomiasis for school age children between the ages of five and 14 in 13 Local Government Areas in the state.”

She averred that the state has carried out treatment for a total of 2,706,45 persons in 700 communities with the achievement of 76.4 percent of geographical coverage.

The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Mrs Modupe Dosunmu noted in her goodwill message that despite the progress that has been made in NTDs elimination, Africa still has about 40 percent NTDs burden while stressing the need to overcome the challenges that are slowing down the progress of eliminating the disease.

She, however, informed the gathering that WHO has unveiled a new blueprint to drive the region’s strategy towards ending the disease across Africa.

The representative of the zonal coordinator of NTDs in the Federal Ministry of Health sought for support from government, partners and Local Government in combatting NTDs, saying that eliminating the disease is a collective fight.

The State Coordinator, Ondo NTDs, Mrs Olanike Oladipupo noted that with over one million cases in Ondo State, there is still more to be done and appreciated those working on the projects in the state.