Says 31.1m Nigerians no longer require treatment for Lymphatic Filariasis, 16m for onchocerciasis
Nigeria is at an advanced stage towards achieving the goals of the World Health Organisation (WHO) roadmap to end Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) by 2030.
Minister of State for Health, Dr Adekunle Salako, disclosed this during the closeout ceremony for the $4.9 million BLON Project contract awarded in December 2022 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with Sightsavers as coordinating partner.
Salako said that the aim of the project was to take 27 million Nigerians out of Ivermectin (IVM) treatment/use by 2024, which is an indication of the end of transmission and a precursor to the eradication of both Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis.
He noted that Nigeria had been able to deliver beyond the targets as 31.1 million people no longer require treatment for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) and 16 million people no longer need treatment for Onchocerciasis, as against 27 million people initially targeted.
The minister said that eliminating LF and Onchocerchiasis in Nigeria, assessment to stop IVM treatment project, was supposed to be a 17-month project towards accelerating the stoppage of Ivermectin use in Nigeria to ensure long-lasting and impactful outcomes, saying that it was extended at no cost in 2024 to end in September 2025.
According to him, the Gates Foundation, through the project, supported the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to address the increasing number of local councils that are eligible for community-based impact and surveillance surveys.
Salako noted that the project additionally had helped in strengthening the country’s health system by supporting four laboratories (UniOsun, TCC lab, NIMR lab and A.B.U lab) through capacity building and facility upgrade (ISO 15189 accreditation), trained 65 laboratory technicians on standardised blood collection, trained over 300 people as card readers, data recorders and field sample collectors and supported the development of sample retention and disposal policy among others.
Also speaking, Country Director of Sightsavers, Prof. Jou Shaubu, stated that when the Gates Foundation invested in funds for Sightsavers to manage as the coordinating partner of the project, the organisation set out to demonstrate that all of the work that has been done over the past two decades can be measured tangibly.
She said that the remarkable achievement of the programme was that there are 31 million Nigerians who will not be required to take medication so that they can be prevented from going blind.
