BILHARZIA PREVENTION CAMPAIGN ON

The health and wellness ministry has rolled out a mass drug administration to control the spread of Bilharzia and intestinal worms.Schistosomiasis also known as Bilharzia is an illness that develops when people come into contact with water contaminated with disease-causing worms. These microscopic worms penetrate the skin without detection and move throughout the body causing severe sickness. The larva of the parasitic fluke penetrates the skin of people wading or bathing in infested canals, and people exposed are usually unaware they are infected until there is damage to the body. A common sign of infection is passing blood during urination or defecation. Left untreated, Bilharzia can damage the liver, intestines, bladder, spleen, and lungs, and soil-transmitted helminths can cause a range of problems, including to anemia, malnutrition, and learning difficulties among children.

The conditions commonly affect children and the poor in low and middle-income countries in the tropics and sub tropics. Bilharzia and soil-transmitted helminths are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Its root cause is poor sanitation, including the widespread practice of and rivers instead of toilets or latrines. Those same bodies of water are used for washing clothes and dishes, bathing and fishing, playing and more. This creates a harmful cycle of disease. According to MOH Spokesperson, Dr Christopher Nyanga the move follows a survey and tests for soil transmitted helminths and Bilharzia across selected schools which revealed that 39.8 percent of school going children had Bilharzia. The exercise targeting school going children aged between five and fourteen years began on March 4 according to Dr Nyanga, and will be conducted in Bobirwa,Charleshill,Francistown ,Chobe,Ghanzi,Goodhope,Jwaneng,Khalag adi North, Lobatse,Mabutsane,Mahalapye, North East,Okavango, Palapye,Selibe Phikwe,Serowe and Tutume.Dr Nyanga said the exercise is also in line with WHO recommendations and the NTD roadmap of 20212030, which recommends that a district with a prevalence of Bilharzia above 20 per cent among school aged children, should conduct a mass drug administration for treatment as well as reducing the burden and transmission of the disease. “Approximately 120 million school age children are at risk of Bilharzia, globally and it has the potential to make them sick by affecting their physical and mental development as well as limit their ability to attend and perform well at school. It can further go on to limit their economic potential in adulthood,” he said in a media release.