Longtong Ibrahim
Kano State Government has confirmed the spread of five neglected tropical diseases out of the 20 that are said to be prevalent across the country.
The state recorded the outbreak of river blindness in 18 local government areas; Lymphatic Filariasis and Bilharzia in 44 local government areas, Trachoma in 10 and soil-transmitted Helminthic across the state, in addition to 236 detected leprosy cases.
State Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Tsanyawa, made this known while briefing newsmen in Kano to commemorate the 2022 world Leprosy and Neglected Tropical Diseases Day.
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The Commissioner, who was represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary explained that the event is set aside to raise awareness that leprosy and other NTDs still exists and pose threat to public health which in turn affects physical, mental and the economic lives of its victims, as well as to end stigmatization and discrimination of persons affected.
While calling on residents to go to the nearest health facilities for early diagnosis and treatment of the diseases, the commissioner noted that, treatment and contact tracing were ongoing in an attempt to stem the increasing spread of the diseases across the state.
The Federal Ministry of Health had recently revealed that Nigeria was endemic to 15 out of the 20 NTDs listed by the World Health Organisation, and called for urgent intervention to mitigate the dangers associated with the diseases.