The Kaduna State Ministry of Health has urged stakeholders involved in administering Praziquantel, a deworming medicine that treats schistosomiasis, to ensure its effective use.

The logistics officer for the Kaduna State Neglected Tropical Disease Control and Elimination Programme, Abdulkarim Dauda, made the call during a two-day stakeholders’ planning meeting on schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia.

Mr Dauda said the medicines were donated and would be provided free of charge to communities affected by bilharzia.

“It is therefore important that every stakeholder involved in this process ensures that the medicines are used strictly for the purpose for which they were donated and that they reach the intended beneficiaries,” he said.

He explained that the medicines were supplied through the support of the World Health Organisation to support the prevention, control, and eventual elimination of the disease, particularly among children aged five to fourteen years.

He added that the drugs moved through a distribution chain from the national level to the state and then to local governments, health facilities, and, finally, to communities.

“We are fully prepared; the medicine is currently available at the Kaduna State Central Medical Store. Beginning next week, the medicines will be distributed to local government stores,” he said.

Mr Dauda further mentioned that after training health workers, the medicines would be supplied to health facilities and later issued to community drug distributors.

He added that the CDDs would go from house to house to administer treatment to eligible children in the targeted communities, expecting critical participation and ownership of the programme’s success and the elimination of schistosomiasis in those communities.

Suleiman Ibrahim, deputy director for community orientation and mobilisation at the National Orientation Agency, said the programme was highly important as it addressed health challenges affecting communities in riverine areas.

He explained that NOA plays a critical role in supporting the intervention through mobilisation.

Mr Ibrahim added that NOA’s extensive presence across all local government areas in the country strategically positions it to support awareness creation and community mobilisation.

He said that their responsibility was to educate people about the programme, to explain the importance of taking the medication, and to create demand for the intervention.

“When communities are properly informed, they are more likely to participate and take advantage of the medicines provided during the campaign,” he said.

Bossan Bitruce, the health secretary for Chikun local government and a participant in the planning meeting, explained that the programme is highly important.

He said the local governments have been shown their target population base.

(NAN)