EAST AFRICA – The United Republic of Tanzania and the Government of Kenya are closely working together on a joint cross-border mass drug administration exercise in an effort to tackle and control the blindness-causing trachoma.
The two countries have partnered to launch a cross-border mass drug administration that will ensure communities living along the common Kenya-Tanzania border receive the much-needed antibiotic treatment in an effort to fully eradicate the blindness-causing disease.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), trachoma is a disease of the eye caused by an obligate intracellular bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis that is transmitted from person to person by direct or indirect transfer of ocular and nasal discharges of infected people.
Trachoma is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the 20 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and the disease remains a serious public health concern with an estimated US$ 8 billion annual loss in productivity due to blindness and visual impairment.
It is the leading infectious cause of blindness and environmental risk factors for trachoma transmission include poor hygiene, overcrowded households, inadequate access to water and inadequate access or use of proper sanitation facilities.
Kenya’s Ministry of Health states that trachoma is endemic in five regions of West Pokot, Turkana, Baringo, Kajiado and Narok counties but more than 53,200 Kenyans have already been blinded by trachoma.
The situation has, however, recorded remarkable gains due to consistent implementation of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) in Kenya for instance, the fight against blindness-causing trachoma received a boost following the launch of a cross-border mass drug administration exercise by Kenya and Uganda.
The exercise was launched at Alakas Primary School in Amudat district of Uganda to synchronize drug administration among the residents of West Pokot and Turkana Counties with neighboring Uganda in an effort to curb trachoma.
Subsequently, the Kenyan and Tanzanian ministries of health have launched a mass distribution of antibiotics initiative at Olposimoru Centre in Narok West Sub County targeting cross border pastoral Maa community living across the two East African neighbors.
The mass drug administration imitative targets members of the Maa community that move along the common border in search of pasture for their livestock thus making the synchronized cross border exercise the most effective in reaching targeted groups.
“The mass drug administration will be conducted for five days targeting an estimated 1,324,392 beneficiaries across four counties of Narok and Kajiado in Kenya and Longido and Ngorongoro in Tanzania,” Kenya’s Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The Ministry further said that 228,360 people are expected to be treated in Ngorongoro with 161,367 others targeted in Longido while 934,665 persons in Kenya are set to benefit with 576,091 people drawn from Narok and a further 358,574 others from Kajiado County.
The current coordinated efforts between the two governments will ensure that the vast majority of the Tanzania-Kenya pastoral community are reached while complementing efforts by the two countries to deal with the problem independently.
Division of Vector Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases at Kenya’s Ministry of Health Head Wycliffe Omondi pointed out that synchronizing drug administration across Tanzania and Kenya remains the most effective way to decisively deal with trachoma.
Wycliffe Omondi highlighted that providing medication to community members is not the only solution against the neglected tropical disease, noting that integrating other measures like hygiene and environmental cleanliness will go a long way in dealing with the problem.
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