Rwanda to benefit from first ever global deworming innovation fund
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - One of the US-based philanthropic Organisations, END Fund, has allocated funding to Rwanda, bringing together private and public sector stakeholders to tackle common infection diseases in humans, caused by a group of parasites commonly referred to as worms in four African countries including Rwanda by 2025, according to an official statement obtained Thursday by PANA in Kigali.
The statement, issued by the philanthropic organisation, stressed that Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases affecting more than 1.7 billion of the world's population, with about 40% of this burden concentrated in Africa.
Among other countries to benefit from the above Deworming Innovation Fund include Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, the statement said.
During the implementation phase, END Fund will leverage drug donations from key pharmaceutical companies and coordinate with governments and partners to create robust delivery systems, it said.
It is expected that over the next five years, people at risk of intestinal worms and schistosomiasis in these four strategic countries will benefit from life-changing deworming treatment.
The main objective is to ensure that nobody is left behind and that at-risk demographics often overlooked in treatment campaigns, like women of reproductive age and children who are not yet in school, are reached, the statement added.
Commenting on these efforts, End Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ellen Agler, said that this groundbreaking capital allows us to reduce the burden of intestinal worms and schistosomiasis in the four countries.
Between 2008-2019, almost 79 million generously donated treatments were delivered in four countries including Rwanda.
This treatment led to a 20% decrease in the prevalence of intestinal worms between 2008 to 2014, it said.
Estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that Worms infections such as soil-transmitted helminths impair the nutritional status of the individuals they infect in multiple ways including: feeding on host tissues, including blood, which leads to a loss of iron and protein and increasing malabsorption of nutrients.
In addition, roundworm may possibly compete for vitamin A in the intestine, the UN agency said.
-0- PANA TWA/VAO 30Jan2020
