Ndalatando - The Angolan government Monday started a national tablets administration campaign against Neglected Tropical Diseases, which is expected to cover 1 million children over one year old in the country's 164 municipalities.
The campaign aims to prevent Schistosomiasis, Oncorsecosis and Lymphatic Filariasis through the administration of praziquantel, albendazole and ivermectin tablets.
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the trematode Schistosoma mansoni, whose adult forms inhabit the mesenteric vessels of the definitive host (man) and the intermediate forms develop in aquatic gastropod snails of the genus Biomphalaria.
Oncorseccosis is a chronic parasitic disease also known as "river blindness" or "miner's disease", caused by the infection produced by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus, which settles in the subcutaneous tissue of those affected.
Lymphatic Filariasis (FL), a chronic parasitic disease, is caused by the nematode worm Wuchereria bancrofti and is also known as bancroftosis. It is transmitted through the bite of a female Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito infected with the parasite's larvae.
They are considered to be neglected because they do not receive due attention in medical care, development of medicines and diagnostic methods and in the social living conditions of the population.
According to the coordinator of the National Program for Neglected Tropical Diseases Control, Maria César de Almeida, reducing the parasite load of these diseases would help to prevent bladder cancer, caused by onchocerciasis, and female genital infertility.
Almeida added that vaccination also prevents the appearance of giant hernias and elephantiasis, a complication caused by lymphatic filariasis, which is often mistaken by the population as a spell caused by supernatural forces.
ANGOP/EFM/IMA/DAN/AMP
