By Kemo Cham
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) last week embarked on mass distribution of preventative drugs against the debilitating sickness called Lymphatic Filiariasis, otherwise known as Elephantiasis.
The disease, which is known commonly as ‘Big Fut’, in the local Krio language, is one of four main Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) endemic in Sierra Leone. It is caused by the thread-like parasitic worm called filariae which is transmitted by the recalcitrant Anopheles mosquito, the same victor for the malaria parasite, another endemic disease in the country.
The five-day (October 9 to 13) campaign is targeting residents in the Western Area, where 1.4 million people above the age of five are being issued doses of the drugs Ivermectin and Abendazole.
2, 370 healthcare volunteers are moving house-to-house to distribute the drugs which officials say were donated by the pharmaceutical firms Merck & Co, and GlaxoSmithKline.
Pregnant women, children below five years of age, critically ill people, post-partum women within 2 weeks of delivery, and very elderly people have been exempted from taking the medicines.
Yet children are the most vulnerable to the disease because of their susceptibility to mosquito bites. But health officials say sleeping under a mosquito net could help prevent the sickness by keeping mosquitoes away.
According to a 2005 nationwide study, ‘Big Fut’ is found throughout Sierra Leone.
Overall, 23 percent of the people tested showed evidence of infection with the parasite. The disease was found to be highly prevalent in Koinadug, Bombali and Kailahun districts.
In the Western Area, 12 percent of people tested proved positive for the parasite, according to the study.
The last time there was distribution of the drugs in Sierra Leone it was in 2013. The Ebola outbreak prevented the campaign for 2014.
Aminata Nuni, a public health official attached to the Western Area District Health management Team, attributed the disease to poverty, citing its predominance among slum dwelling populations and settlements with unhygienic condition.
Ensuring a clean environment is another sure way of preventing the disease, she said.
For ‘Big Fut’, the parasite can stay in a person`s system for up to 10 to 15 years without showing any signs and symptoms, said experts. And because of lack of appropriate testing equipment, diagnosis is an uphill task.
While it may not be as deadly as malaria, ‘Big Fut’ is notorious for inflicting permanent disability and disfiguring its victims. It is said to be the second leading cause of disability worldwide
Over 500, 000 people, among over one million infected worldwide, die of the disease annually, according to experts, mostly in developing countries like Sierra Leone where it has been neglected by the routine health system.
The fight against this disease has however been complicated by unfriendly tradition beliefs which do not consider the resulting conditions as health related. Some consider it as witchcraft. This has informed a longstanding apathy towards the drugs.
“Some people are of the view that those diseases are being caused by witchcraft and for that reason they don’t normally take the drugs,” said Dr. Yakuba Madina Bah, Manager of the National Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme.
(C) Politico Online 12/10/15
