On the 30 th January 2023, JICA-NUITM joined other partners and the government of Kenya to commemorate the World Neglected tropical Disease Day at Rabuor sub-county Hospital in Kisumu County.
The event was hosted by the Kisumu county government, a representation of the health cabinet secretary, WH representative, the Division of vector–borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases, and other partners who fund and implement programs on the diagnosis, treatment, and care, creating awareness and prevention of other NTDs that manifest among Kenyans.
More than 1bn are affected by NTDs globally in Kenya with the main contributing factors being low levels of literacy, living standards, and poor hygiene which is often associated with lots of myths and misconceptions.
In Kenya, 26 out of the 47 counties have since begun activities on awareness creation treatment, and prevention and so far 16 NTDs are of concern out of the 40 in Kenya, Upscaling this kind of awareness creation and treatment is recommended.
The theme was ACT NOW, ACT TOGETHER, INVEST IN NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES.
During the breakfast meeting at the Acacia Premier Hotel the team had a fruitful discussion on;
□ The provision of comprehensive healthcare and the challenges faced to achieve Universal Health Coverage
NTD roadmap progress in the intervention and continued journey towards elimination e.g the NTDs by 2030 e.g guinea worm
Sustainable interventions to promote dignified and productive healthy livelihoods.
Emphasis on proper sanitation to break the chain of transmission and thus progressive control of the
diseases.
Preventive chemotherapy management of the NTDs
Precision report on the mapping done in Kisumu County on various NTDs thus rolling out a mass drug administration to the affected communities.
There was an emphasis on sustainable collaboration between the government and partners.
Revitalization of primary healthcare.
Activities
During the event that was held at Rabour sub-county hospital with all the partners and the MoH, we were able to come up with different booths that were being used to treat different NTDs.
At the JICA-NUITM booth, sustainable jiggers control was one of interest 30-40 people come to talk about their experiences with jiggers and two people who had kins who are infested came to inquire about the treatment for their kins, we managed to teach them diagnosis, treatment, prevention and also gave them the medicine(potassium parmanganent )with instructions.
We were able to conduct health talks and create awareness on the treatment procedures using Silicone oil (NYDA) and Potassium Paramagnet.
There was also presentation of educative poems and skits on awareness creation of various NTDs and also the unveiling of the brand ambassador (Awinja) who is a content creator.