Kitui County government has through its Ministry of Health and Sanitation embarked on a mass drug administration drive to curb the spread of neglected tropical diseases notably Bilharzia and worms in the county.
The drug administration targets to break the transmission cycle of the neglected tropical diseases which are Bilharzia and Soil Transmitted Helminths (worms).
The exercise kicked off Thursday June 8 targeting school students and everyone above 5 years.
Addressing the press, the County Public Health Chief Executive Officer Lynne Kitwan said that the mass drug administration exercise is targeting 14 endemic wards in the county.
“We have 14 endemic wards for Schistosomiasis and those are the specific places where Schistosomiasis drugs will be administered,” she said.
This exercise is aimed at the village level and it will be spearheaded by the Community Health Volunteers who will offer door to door services.
“These drugs will be administered through our Community Health Volunteers who are our community health keepers, in the homes, markets, churches, mosques and all over the county,” the Health and Sanitation Chief Officer said.
Kitui County is among five counties where the exercise is ongoing. The other counties are Machakos, Makueni, Tharaka Nithi and Embu.
The county is in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), State Ministry of Health (MOH) and Hellen Keller, whereby 1.1 million tablets of praziquantel tablets and 1.2 million tablets of albendazole against the worms, were expected to be administered across the county at no cost.
The schistosomiasis drug will be administered to children aged 5 years and above while the Soil Transmitted Helminth drugs will be administered to children aged 1 year and above. Children aged 6 months and above will also benefit from the administration of Vitamin A by Hellen Keller and Malezi Bora Programme.
Kitwan further urged the residents to accept the drive and avail themselves in large numbers for administration of the drugs. In addition, she sensitized the residents to wash their hands regularly, use their latrines properly and maintain hygiene.
By Denson Mututo and Judy Musyoki
