Launch Mass Drug Administration for Bilharzia and Intestinal Worms
Siaya ,2023 The Ministry of Health has launched a Mass Drug Administration (MDA) exercise for Bilharzia and Intestinal worms in Siaya County.
This follows a comprehensive burden assessment in the Lake Region , Coastal Region and Western Region by the Ministry of Health that indicated several wards in the regions require preventive MDA to cut transmission of the two Neglected Tropical Diseases(NTDs).
Globally, 800 million people are at risk of getting bilharzia, with 254 million already infected. In Kenya, more than 10 million people are at risk of bilharzia. Meanwhile, 1.5 billion worldwide suffer from intestinal worms with 20 million people at risk of this infection in our country.
In line with the World Health Organization (2021-2030 )Roadmap for Elimination of NTDs,the Ministry, in collaboration with the WHO targets to provide preventive deworming treatment to 18 million people in high risk regions in 2023/24.
As part of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) the government will deploy Community Health Promoters to sensitize communities on hygiene and sanitation towards elimination of NTDs and other preventable diseases.