Trachoma, worms’ common diseases in rural areas - report

WESTERN PROVINCE RUBAVU — Residents living along Lake Kivu have been advised to improve hygiene to avoid contracting Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) such as trachoma, guinea-worms, and intestinal worms that are said to be common in rural areas. The call was made recently by Augean Ruberanziza, an official from Access Project, while responding to a report recently released about the prevalence of NTDs in three provinces of the country. The NGO is currently working closely with the Ministry of Health to help local communities to improve health by preventing the spread of selected preventable disease. “There are diseases that have been left out, campaigns have been staged against diseases like HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis but diseases such as trachoma and worms have been neglected yet they affect millions of people especially in developing countries,” Ruberanziza said. “Recent research conducted by the Access Project indicates that 90 percent of Rwandans in especially the Western, Northern and Southern provinces of Rwanda are affected by some of these diseases. Intestinal worm diseases and trachoma are the most common,” he said, adding that the research also showed that intestinal worm diseases in Kigali City stand at 23% compared to 90% in the three provinces. Talking to reporters in Rubavu, Ruberanziza said NTDs are a symptom of poverty as most sufferers are the poorest populations often living in rural areas, urban slums or in conflict zones. He noted that such diseases have always been ignored by most countries’ public health sectors. According to him, the lack of reliable statistics and strange names of some of the diseases have hampered preventive efforts - thus leaving the population to suffer. Health officials say most NTDs are caused by drinking contaminated water, poor housing conditions and poor sanitation; children are the most vulnerable to infections. “In most of the sampled upcountry primary schools, intestinal worm infections were between 95 to 100%. These are diseases that are always neglected due to their slow effects on one’s health yet at the end of the day such neglected diseases leave millions of people in daily pain,” he added. According to the report, trachoma disease was most reported in Nyaruguru and Gatsibo districts. Ruberanziza disclosed that the Ministry of Health was working hand in hand with the project to provide medications to the affected people. Ends