The Enugu state government, on Tuesday, urged residents of the state to sustain all hygiene efforts to check Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ikechukwu Obi, made the appeal while lighting-up World NTD Day neon-light at “the Drummer” status at Otigba Junction within Enugu metropolis to commemorate World NTD Day 2022.
Obi said that the state government had been working hard through various means to shore-up the personal and environmental hygiene of residents through provision of sanitary materials, health talk/awareness and mass media enlightenment.
According to him, the personal and environmental hygiene deployed in fighting the dreaded COVID-19 was similarly needed for tackling the NTDs and ensuring such diseases have no place close to residents of the state.
The commissioner said that the diseases were neglected due to poor awareness, poor funding as well as poverty among the people living in the environment that it was prevalent.
He said that there were more than 20 NTD diseases, but very few were experienced in the country; adding that the state and its health partners were intensifying efforts in its surveillance against NTDs within communities.
“The state is working tireless with its health partners to join the rest of the World to eradicate NTDs as well as close all gaps that leads to poverty and socio-economic inequalities that make NTDs to strive,” he added.
Also speaking, the Coordinator of the Enugu State NTDs, Dr Ifeoma Otiji, said that the state and its health partners carried out a walk within Enugu metropolis, in the morning hours, to raise awareness on NTDs among residents and travellers.
Otiji said that the state and its health partners were joining over 170 countries all over the world to create awareness about NTDs, through the state lighting up the neon-sign at Otigba Junction, Enugu.
She said that state government and its health partners had similarly continued to make drugs against NTDs available and often undertake house-to-house administration of these drugs to ensure everyone remained healthy and immune to NTDs.
In a goodwill message, the Coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Enugu State, Dr Ada Erinne, assured the state and its partners of the world body’s continuous support to tackle NTDs.
“We are here to re-emphasis our commitment to support the state government and its health partners, to tackle all forms of NTDs among the good people of the state,” Erinne assured.
Other partners that delivered goodwill messages included UNICEF, WaterAid, WASH and other health-related NGOs operating in the state.
The theme of the 2022 World NTD Day is “Achieving Health Equity to End the Neglect of Poverty-Related Diseases”.
The evening event was organized by the Enugu state Ministry of Health, in collaboration with The Carter Centre and the Wash For Impact And Development (WASHFID).
The World NTD Day, which is commemorated annually on Jan. 30, is a day set aside by the WHO and other health-related organizations to create awareness and address NTDs.
(NAN)