Kano state Government has confirmed the spread of 5 Neglected Tropical Diseases out of the 20 that have been reportedly prevalent across the country.
This was made known by the state commissioner of Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, at a press conference to mark world Leprosy and Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (NTD).
He explained that the day is celebrated every last Sunday of January annually, which coincides with the death of Mahatma Gandhi in commemoration of the support he gave to patients of leprosy worldwide.
He said, “the event is set aside to raise public awareness that Leprosy and other NTDs are still out there and poses threat to public health affecting physical, mental, economic lives of its victims as well as to end stigma and discrimination of persons affected worldwide.”
Recently, the Federal Government, through the ministry of health had revealed that Nigeria is endemic with 15 out of the 20 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) listed by the World Health Organization (WHO), calling for an urgent intervention to mitigate the dangers associated with the disease.
The commissioner revealed that, Kano state recorded the outbreak of River blindness in 18 Local Government Areas and 236 detected leprosy cases.
He called on residents to go to the nearest health facility for early diagnosis and treatment of the above mentioned diseases, as treatment and contact tracing have been on-going in an attempt to stem the increasing spread of the diseases across the state.