Tag Archives: Africa

Mali on Track to Eliminate Trachoma by 2015

Africa, Trachoma, ,

 

By Wangechi Thuo and Andrew Carlson 

The Community Eye Health Journal announced in November that the National Blindness Prevention Programme (PNLC) in Mali, established in 1998, is on track to eliminate trachoma as a cause of blindness by 2015.

Trachoma is a bacterial disease that is transmitted through flies that come into contact with infected people or person to person contact. In areas where people live in close proximity, the disease spreads at an alarming rate, and can quickly infect entire communities. Repeated infection causes eyelids to turn inward and scratch the cornea, leaving an infected individual one unbelievably painful step closer to blindness with every blink they take, a process called trachomatous trichiasis. In 2011 the WHO estimated that 7,260,960 people around the world had this form of trichiasis.

Just before PNLC’s inception, Mali bore a generous portion of the global burden: during a national survey conducted in February 1996-May 1997, an estimated 85,700 people needed trichiasis surgery.

Since then, thanks to a strong commitment by the government of Mali, the PNLC has consolidated support from various partners, including The Carter Center, Helen Keller International (HKI), the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID) managed by RTI international, The END Fund, and the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI). The PNLC has set a high standard in trachoma elimination that similar national initiatives throughout sub-Saharan Africa strive to emulate.

Three important benchmarks help explain how Mali has achieved this success:

  • Distribution of antibiotics: Through district-level mass drug administration, the PNLC has reduced active disease well below the recommended threshold in 84% of the districts in which the disease is present
  • Surgical Efficiency: Since 2009, the PNLC almost halved the surgical backlog throughout the country; in 2011 alone, 8,510 trichiasis surgeries were conducted by only a handful of surgeons
  • Preventive sanitation: Since 2009, 53,090 latrines have been constructed allowing safer disposal of waste

To foster community awareness, the PNLC has developed a primary school curriculum on trachoma, trained community leaders in trachoma prevention and ensured the dissemination of health messages through radio broadcasts with help from HKI.

PNLC’s successes are even more laudable as they were achieved in spite of the military coup d’état in March 2012, which elicited a considerable decrease in financial support to the Malian government.

With support from partners, Mali is less than one year away from achieving the goal of trachoma elimination and is positioned to celebrate this achievement, five years ahead of the global elimination date. Mali’s success story and lessons learned can provide can also be example for more countries throughout the world.

Achieving a Uganda Free of NTDs

Africa,

 

By Wangechi Thuo and Tawina Clarke

WHO Regional Office for Africa, NTD Advisor, Dr. Adiele Onyeze holds up Uganda's national NTD plan.

WHO Regional Office for Africa, NTD Advisor, Dr. Adiele Onyeze holds up Uganda’s national NTD plan.

On October 5, 2013, Uganda launched a five-Year Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Master Plan in Entebbe — joining other African nations in the regional effort to control and eliminate NTDs by 2020. The national NTD master plan provides a roadmap for the government and partners to maintain and sustain NTD control efforts in the country with the aim of an NTD free Uganda by the year 2020.

Ahead of the launch, the Director General of health services, Dr. Ruth Aceng, expressed the government’s eagerness to end the cycle of poverty by ending NTDs. Dr. Aceng explained that “most NTDs cause disability and deformity and these lead to partial or complete dependence of victims on individuals resulting in community reduction in economic and agricultural productivity.”

During the launch, high level government officials and partners continued to demonstrate a strong commitment to ending the suffering caused by NTDs. The Honorable Minister of Health, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, led the ceremony and international partners and major donors were also in attendance.  Ugandan children also attended – demonstrating an important contribution to the ceremony considering children represent the population most vulnerable to NTDs. In an impactful and emotional performance, students from Budo Junior School in Wakiso District performed a song titled “Let’s join hands and make Uganda free of NTDs”,  while others presented a poem illustrating the impact of NTDs on millions of Ugandans —  more than 15 million of whom are at risk for one or more NTDs.

The demonstrated commitment to NTD control and elimination efforts demonstrated by a diverse group of partners is an encouraging start to achieving a Uganda free of NTDs.

For further information on the launch event, please visit New Vision.

How You Helped Us Create 58,365 Success Stories in One Day

Africa, de-worming, Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH), , , ,

 

Photo by Richard Hatzfeld

Photo by Richard Hatzfeld

 

This was not your average school day in Sierra Leone. On July 8th, 2013, thousands of children in the Western Area Rural District arrived to class and received a life-changing packet of pills. While small and unassuming, these pills change lives and have the power to protect each child from debilitating and painful neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Sierra Leone is home to some of the poorest health conditions in the world. Intestinal worms affect the entire population of the country – leaving millions of children sick, tired, anemic and undernourished.  But thanks to you, we were able to ensure more than 58,000 of these children remain healthy and protected from NTDs for an entire year! Here’s how we did it together:

This April we showed you the stark human toll an NTD called schistosomiasis has on people in Sierra Leone. Our short film motivated thousands of you to take action by donating money and sharing our message. And with your help, END7 was able to support our partners on the ground in Sierra Leone this July.

 Helen Keller International and the government of Sierra Leone distributed deworming medicine to treat and protect 58,365 children against NTDs. But this was no easy task.

The distribution of deworming medicine took place at multiple schools in the Western Area Rural District of the country. Zonal advisors and teachers across the region had to be trained in pill distribution and mass drug administration (MDA) in order to carry out the task at hand. Once training was completed, the teachers were ready to distribute medicine to thousands of children, and the children were ready to go to school to receive the life-saving medicine on July 8th. Together, we created 58,365 success stories in just one school day.

But that’s not where this story ends. The government of Sierra Leone is continuing the task of treating every child in the country against NTDs. Sierra Leone’s Neglected Tropical Disease Control Program plans to control and eliminate these diseases by 2015 and is working aggressively to do so. Even more, Helen Keller International, who’s been working in the country since 2002, is dedicated to seeing the end of NTDs in the country. Throughout HKI’s 12 years in-country, they’ve completed surveys on the prevalence of NTDs in Sierra Leone in addition to providing training and education so that Community Directed Distributors can distribute multiple treatments at the same time. We know our collective efforts will make a big difference in the lives of children living in Sierra Leone.

The July MDA in Sierra Leone demonstrates the effectiveness of NTD treatment when coordinated through already established institutions like local schools. Because children are so vulnerable to the effects of NTDs, school systems offer a unique and effective way to provide treatment to children who are infected or at risk of infection.

To date, END7  funds have contributed to several school-based deworming programs.  But with your help, we can double – or even triple(!) – the number of school kids reached across the world! Will you donate? Together we can see the end.

The New York Times Recognizes Tremendous Progress on NTDs

Africa, , , ,

 

Photo by Olivier Asselin

Photo by Olivier Asselin

 

Shawn K. Baker, interim director of nutrition in the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and former regional director for Africa at Helen Keller International, has seen amazingly effective public health campaigns in action. In a recent article posted on New York Times Columnist Nick Kristof’s blog, Shawn highlights some of the most important success stories he’s witnessed.

“I have had the privilege of seeing first-hand how much good development assistance can do and the level of commitment and leadership that can be found on the ground,” Shawn writes.

One of Shawn’s success stories highlights the rapid progress made towards controlling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Africa.

When speaking of these debilitating diseases, Shawn states, “These are not the headline diseases such as HIV or malaria, and have tongue-twisting names such as onchocerciasis, geohelmintiasis, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis and trachoma.”

While NTDs do lack the attention given to other diseases like HIV/AIDS or malaria, the international community, NGOs, pharmaceutical companies and national governments are making tremendous progress in developing integrated plans to eliminate NTDs – and they’re succeeding.

According to Shawn, “In 2012 the five national programs in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone treated over 90 million people, while other countries, such as Ghana and Uganda, and now Guinea are showing similarly impressive results. There is real hope that these diseases can be eliminated in our lifetimes.”

Shawn ends his piece by stating that complacency is not an option when it comes to eliminating NTDs, and that much still needs to be done for patients who have already reached the blinding stage of trachoma – one of the NTDs targeted by Helen Keller International.

To read the full post, click here.