STUDENTS GET BILHARZIA JAB Over 6 000 students targeted in Chobe
The Chobe District Health Management Team (DHMT) has launched a 11-day Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of the bilharzia drug - prazinguantel - on pre-school, primary, junior secondary students and out of school children in the 5-14 age bracket.
The campaign, which is in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations and the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) roadmap of 2021-2030, will cover both government and private schools.
Bilharzia or “snail fever”, is a disease caused by a parasitic worm. The worm, or fluke, has several different species. It affects the intestines and the urinary system preferentially, but because it lives in the blood vessels, it can harm other systems in the body, too.
WHO describes it as both an acute and chronic disease. Symptoms appear as the body reacts to the parasite’s presence, but complications can persist long-term.
According to Chobe DHMT Coordinator, Rose Munyere, the exercise is an effort to prevent and treat bilharzia in Chobe District and other selected districts following a survey by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in 2015 that revealed 39.8% school going children had the disease.
“Chobe, as a Bilharzia prone area, forms part of the districts selected to participate in this mass drug administration against the disease. The MDA is in line with WHO recommendations where prevalence is above 20%,” she said.
Munyere further revealed that the MDA will cover over 6 000 students and out-of-school children within the age range in Chobe.
WHO has identified bilharzia as one of the most NTD existing world wide, particularly in middle to low economic countries.
Statistics from the MOHW shows that bilharzia has been prevalent mostly in Chobe and Ngami districts until intervention in 1985 and 1993 which significantly reduced the disease from 28 percent to 6.7 percent.
The MDA will also be rolled out to other districts, including Francistown, Tutume, Palapye, Serowe, Goodhope, Kgalagadi, Lobatse and Bobirwa.