A call has been made for stronger media collaboration as part of efforts to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) ahead of the World NTD Day slated for January 30, 2025.
The Director of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Dr. Festus Soyinka, who made the call during an engagement meeting with media practitioners in Abeokuta, emphasised that the media play a critical role in raising awareness and driving community support for NTD interventions, saying the 2025 World NTD Day themed: “Unite, Act, and Eliminate”, presents an opportunity to engage in collective action towards tackling the diseases.
Soyinka disclosed that Ogun State’s strategic approach to NTD control over the years had been mass administering of deworming drugs to residents through school-based and community deworming campaigns, adding that the strategy was equally aimed at creating widespread awareness on NTD.
He stressed that NTD can be effectively controlled and eliminated, when key methods were identified and sustained based on the peculiarities of specific geographical locations, calling for cross-sectoral sustainable collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), such as Environment and Education, Science and Technology, alongside other stakeholders like the media, to achieve lasting success.
In her presentation titled: “Overview of NTDs in Ogun State”, the Deputy State Coordinator for NTD, Ministry of Health, Mrs. Maryam Kafil-Emiola, revealed that nearly all the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State were endemic to one or more NTDs, adding that this posed significant socio-economic challenges to the people, including lost productivity and increased spending on healthcare.
She emphasised that the theme, “Unite, Act, and Eliminate”, underscores the need for stakeholders to collaborate more effectively, stressing that coordinated intervention strategies were crucial for the State to achieve NTD-free status in the nearest future.
In his remarks, the representative of Evidence Action, a key partner of the NTD Unit in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Gabriel Anwo commended the media for their critical role in amplifying NTD interventions, urging media practitioners to continue supporting the State’s efforts, as their contributions were essential in driving community engagement in the fight against NTDs.