(2 minutes read)
- The fight against blindness-causing trachoma received a boost in Kenya and Uganda
- Ugandan State Minister for Karamoja affairs Dr Maria Goretti welcomed the latest initiative. Goretti said previous efforts where respective governments conducted mass drug administration at different times saw a section of the local community missing out the camps
- They were largely pastoralists who used to cross between the two nations in search of pasture
The fight against blindness-causing trachoma received a boost in Kenya and Uganda. Ugandan State Minister for Karamoja affairs Dr Maria Goretti welcomed the latest initiative. Goretti said previous efforts where respective governments conducted mass drug administration at different times saw a section of the local community missing out the camps. They were largely pastoralists who used to cross between the two nations in search of pasture.
Speaking at the same event, Head division of vector borne and neglected tropical diseases at the ministry of health Wycliffe Omondi said there was need to employ a multi-faceted approach in the fight against the disease for comprehensively dealing with the trachoma challenge.
In 2021, the National Trachoma elimination program aims to treat 2,826,638 persons across seven counties of Baringo, Isiolo, Kajiado, Narok, Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot. Trachoma is listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the 20 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), which leads to blindness.
In Kenya, Trachoma is endemic in 12 counties with a combined population of approximately eleven million people and more than 53,200 Kenyans have already been blinded by Trachoma. Due to consistent implementation of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in the country, the situation has recorded tremendous gains.
