By Amadu S Bah
232news
On Monday 30th January 2023 Sierra Leone joined other countries in the world to create awareness on the World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day. This is year’s celebration was commemorated under the theme: “Act Now. Act Together. Invest in NTDs.” To mark this year’s celebration an awareness discussion on NTDs was organized by Helen Keller International which took at the American Corner, Bathurst Street. The discussion hosted members of the health sector, the media and other senior citizens and was moderated by BBC stringer Umaru Fofanah.
Dr. Alie Wurie, one of the panelists, noted that Tuberculosis (TB) has been included among the world neglected diseases. He however noted that there has been great improvement in the treatment of those infected with the virus and the transmission chain has been reduced drastically. He went on to mention that government is in strong partnership with Helen Keller International to see that Sierra Leone is eliminating Tropical Diseases within the shortest possible time.
In his presentation as a health specialist in the area of entomology and as a panelist, Hon. Ibrahim Sesay stated that mosquitoes are very dangerous insects and may transmit parasitic diseases. He said according to evidence, certain NTDS are not only common in one districts but all over Sierra Leone except Freetown and others coastal areas. He said as Sierra Leone celebrates this World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, it is important for the health sector to create an awareness for better sanitation lifestyle in the country.
Making his presentation, the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Program Director for Helen Keller International Mohamed M. Bah started by giving a brief background of projects implemented by Helen Keller stating that the organization started work in Sierra Leone in 2022 and was working specifically on nutrition programs. He went on to explain that by 2007-2008 Helen Keller International received grant from the United States Agency for International Development to support the neglected tropical diseases program. He said the organization has been working with government to bring all the NTDs under the one umbrella. He noted that their work for the past years have been mainly around capacity building, like the training of health workers, community volunteers, providing technical and importantly financial support towards the NTDs program.
