Tag Archives: podoconiosis

Training Session Improves Prevention and Treatment of Podoconiosis for People of Cameroon

Africa, NTDs

 

A podoconiosis patient practices good hygiene. Credit: Footwork

A podoconiosis patient practices good hygiene. Credit: Footwork

Guest blog post by Wendy Santis, Footwork Executive Director 

Twenty-five members of Cameroon’s Ministry of Health, and nurses and leaders from Mbebah Vigilantic Farming and Development Association — a community development NGO in Northwest Cameroon — received training this past December in podoconiosis diagnosis, prevention and mitigation.

Podoconiosis, a type of elephantiasis spread by chronic exposure to irritant soils, has been reported in over 15 countries across tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America in volcanic highland zones, and is an important cause of tropical lymphedema. This neglected tropical disease (NTD) is primarily found in remote rural areas where subsistence farmers typically work in the fields barefoot. It causes progressive bilateral swelling of the lower legs. It is not infectious — no virus, bacterium or parasite is responsible.

The exchange training visit in Cameroon, which aimed to strengthen the Northwest region’s ability to control podoconiosis, was funded by Footwork: The International Podoconiosis Initiative (a project of New Venture Fund, a 501c3 public charity), Brighton and Sussex Medical School and International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). Participants included three IOCC staff who are involved in podoconiosis prevention and treatment programs in Ethiopia: Hari Desta, Tsige Amberbir and Abreham Tamiru. They, plus Footwork Executive Director Wendy Santis, worked with Professor Samuel Wanji’s team from the University of Buea/Research Foundation for Tropical Disease and Environment.

podo2Since 2009, IOCC, in collaboration with Gail Davey, Professor of Global Health Epidemiology at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and Footwork’s founder, has developed a scalable model to address podoconiosis with an aggressive prevention and treatment program in Ethiopia, where more than three million people suffer from this debilitating disease of the feet and legs and another 38 million are at risk. Through this IOCC model, more than 300,000 children and adults have been assisted through awareness, prevention and treatment efforts.

Data and recommendations are being shared with Cameroon’s Ministry of Health planners to inform policy decisions regarding community-based management of morbidity due to podoconiosis with the goal of eliminating podoconiosis in the region and the country. A Northwest region podoconiosis advocacy committee has been formed to further these efforts.

This work is extremely important, considering two million people (10 percent of Cameroon’s population) are at risk of podoconiosis. Mapping in Northwest Cameroon has demonstrated that podoconiosis is endemic in this region. Several thousand people are affected with a mean prevalence of 1 percent. Further mapping is planned.

To learn more about Footwork and podoconiosis, visit: www.podo.org.

In addition to Cameroon, Footwork is active in Ethiopia and plans to work in Uganda and Rwanda, among other countries. It encourages integration of podoconiosis control into efforts to eliminate other NTDs, and works with those active in other related diseases of the foot and leg.

  • Our shared goal is to eliminate podoconiosis within our lifetimes.
  • Our vision is a world free of podoconiosis in our lifetimes.
  • Our mission is to bring together public and private partners to support prevention and treatment of, and advocacy for, podoconiosis.

A Discovery Too Quiet: Podoconiosis

Africa, Global Health, Latin America and the Caribbean, NTDs, environmental health, , , shoes

Podoconiosis is a type of tropical lymphoedema that researchers have been analyzing for around 10 years.  It is clinically different from Lymphatic Filriasis (elephantiasis)based on the design of the strand and is characterized by a prodromal phase before elephantiasis sets in.  Thus far, evidence shows that the podoconiosis “is the result of a genetically determined abnormal inflammatory reaction to mineral particles in irritant red clay soils derived from volcanic deposits.” Outbreaks have been endemic to the highland areas of tropical Africa, central America, and West India.

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One Day Without Shoes

Africa, Global Development, Global Health, policy, poverty, Public Health, Water and Sanitation, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

by Jessica Shortall, Director of Giving, TOMS Shoes

TOMS Shoes’ (www.TOMS.com) 3rd annual One Day Without Shoes campaign is asking you to go barefoot on April 8th – to spread awareness about the hundreds millions of children who are barefoot around the globe.

As for me, I’ll be barefoot in Little Rock, Arkansas, walking with American Idol Kris Allen and a huge crowd who are learning that being barefoot is about much more than the occasional scrape or stubbed toe.

As the director of giving for TOMS, I spend my days (and some nights) thinking about where all of our One for One shoes should go – because with every pair you purchase, TOMS gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need. As we grow, our opportunities – and responsibility to give well – grow. And what I’m hearing from all corners of the globe – from Zanzibar to Haiti to Peru to Bhutan – is that one of the most pressing health issues facing kids today is soil-transmitted diseases. Hookworm is a great example – hundreds of millions of kids are exposed to this intestinal parasite that comes from the soil, often through bare feet. It causes malnutrition, anemia, stunted growth, even cognitive damage. And while mass de-worming drug distribution is of huge importance, as long as kids stay barefoot they will remain at risk. That’s why, along with our NGO and public health partners, we’re excited about integrating our shoes into existing de-worming programs.

Similarly, in Ethiopia, we are regularly giving shoes to tens of thousands of kids who are at the highest risk for podoconiosis, a debilitating, geochemical, soil-transmitted disease that affects millions in the tropics but is so neglected it has yet to appear on any official NTD lists. Without shoes, about 25% of these kids would suffer the same fate as their affected parents, whose resulting elephantiasis (non-filarial) causes swelling, pain, loss of mobility, and smell that result in significant lost productivity and often complete ostracization from the community.

It’s clear to me that the time has come to see shoes as a key piece in an integrated approach to NTDs. We still have a lot to learn, but now is the time to start.

So when I’m barefoot in Arkansas tomorrow, and people ask me why, I’ll tell them it’s to remind myself, and to have the opportunity to teach others, about the huge impact that shoes can have on a child’s health and education. Step 1 is awareness. Step 2: join our movement at www.TOMS.com. Support organizations combating the effects of being barefoot. Take off your shoes with me tomorrow!

www.OneDayWithoutShoes.com
Twitter feed at #hardwithoutshoes