HKI and Partners to Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sierra Leone

Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 28 th, 2008 – Over 2 million people in 60% of the communities in Sierra Leone suffer from debilitating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), including onchocerciasis, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), and soil-transmitted helminthes. Symptoms include physical disfiguration, diarrhea, painful itching, and irreversible blindness. Although all of these diseases are treatable with existing medications, their diagnosis and treatment remains problematic, especially in rural areas where access to health care is limited. Helen Keller International (HKI) in collaboration with the Neglected Tropical Disease Task Force and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) recently received a 3.5 million USD three-year grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement an integrated program for NTD control in Sierra Leone.

HKI, along with partners PLAN, Sightsavers International, the University of Sierra Leone and WHO, will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MHS) through the National Onchocerciasis Control Program (NOCP). The Chief Medical Officer at MHS, Dr. Arthur Williams, has expressed the Government’s full commitment to HKI and its partners. In addition to the technical assistance, research on trachoma, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthes and mapping of lymphatic filariasis in seven districts will be done. HKI and its partners will also work with the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), the drug company Merck & Co., Inc. and the World Bank to expand NTD control to communities currently not covered by the onchocerciasis program.

Using the community directed approach that has already been proven successful in controlling onchocerciasis, HKI will identify and train community volunteers to integrate NTD control into existing health structures and delivery systems; the objective is to make distribution of the drugs and treatment both cost-effective and self-sustainable. HKI will also provide training and education to communities about NTD control, develop communication tools and strategies, and enable free drug distribution (albendazole for lymphatic filariasis and soil transmitted helminthes, and praziquantel for schistosomiasis) to the affected communities.

In a stakeholders meeting held in Freetown, a representative from USAID, Ms. Jennah Boi Neneh Jalloh commented on the importance of the program to Sierra Leone: “[C]ontrol of Neglected Tropical Diseases will contribute to economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve health and productivity.”

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