A few of the many Burundians treated in the December 2009 MDA
By Indra Struyven
In December 2009, the Burundi NTD Control Program successfully treated 3.6 million preschool and school-age children, along with 115,008 pregnant women in the ongoing battle against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The program also successfully trained 1,467 health care workers for diagnosing and treating NTDs in its third year of operation.
The main target of this mass drug administration (MDA) was one of the most prevalent and debilitating group of parasitic infections, namely the soil-transmitted helminthiases (intestinal worm infections). These are diseases that cause anemia, malnutrition, pain, and physical and mental underdevelopment in children.
One person who benefited from this MDA is Béoline Nsengiyumva. Béoline is a 14 year old girl living with her family in Mukungu, Makamba province in Burundi. She’s in her 5th year of primary school, has a very joyful and cheerful demeanor, and, like many of her schoolmates, was afflicted with soil-transmitted helminths. The parasitic disease caused her to suffer from exhaustion, nausea, and abdominal pains, forcing her to miss school and make frequent trips to the local health clinic. But that was all before she received treatment in December, Since Béoline has become healthy again.
Another key part of a MDA is education to prevent getting infected again in the future. Béoline is learning the importance of hygiene. When asked if she knows how prevent intestinal worm infections, she says that she has to wash her hands. Simple steps such as using the latrines at her school and wearing shoes can go a long way towards preventing future re-infection.
The Burundi NTD Control Program organized the MDA in partnership with several other programs from the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, CBM and the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Indra Struyven is a medical doctor. She completed the diploma course of tropical medicine in London (LSHTM). Currently she’s working for CBM, as a technical assistant to the Ministry of Health in Burundi, to assist the team of the Ministry in their fight against NTD’s. Before she was working as a GP in Dar es Salaam.