KISUMU, Kenya, Jan 30 – Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o has rallied his colleagues in the 47 counties to prioritize allocation of funds in the health docket towards elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) in the country.
Nyong’o says the fight against NTD requires a multispectral engagement to firmly and decisively deal with such diseases.
“I am placing a rallying call to my fellow Governors in the nation to enhance the fight against NTDs so that they are n more called neglected but included in a wider health initiatives that will see them a thing of the past,” said Nyong’o.
The Governor called for observation of proper sanitation and hygiene practices at the family level in order to break the chain of transmission of NTDs.
“Let us stop open defecation, let’s use latrines, that is the surest way to deal with NTDs admits us,” he said.
Speaking in Kisumu on Monday in Rabuor health center in Nyando Sub County during the marking of the national NTDs, Nyong’o announced that five counties within the lake basin will benefit from a study on the burden of NTDs in the region.
“I am extremely humbled that a survey supported by the African Institute for Health and Development will be documenting the prevalence of bilharzia, jiggers and intestinal worms in our counties,” he said.
The survey will be conducted in the counties of Busia, Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori for a period of five years with support from development partners including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nyong’o says the outcome of the survey will inform the interventions for the affected people including children and adults.
“If this survey is conducted successfully for five years, we will be able to quantify the burden of NTDs in the region and implement various interventions and consequently eliminate the diseases,” he said.
In the meantime, Governor Nyong’o urged farmers in the rice fields and fishermen to take health precautions while carrying out their daily activities.
He further noted that those in the car washing sector are susceptible to NTDs not that he is opposed to the mushrooming of car washes in the lakeside city.
“I am going to instruct Kisumu City Manager to establish specific stations for car washing, not people putting car washing stations anywhere, they are part of the problem not the solution,” he said.
However, Nyong’o says through the revitalized primary healthcare in the county, every individual has access to early diagnosis and treatment of NTDs.
“Currently Kisumu County has 274 established and functional community health units and 3,000 community health workers engaged by the health sector to track down those suffering from NTDs,” he said.
