HEALTH EQUITY TO END NTDs

The wooden stick that would probably have served as the perfect wood to lit up the existing fire cooking breakfast served as an assistant to the blind man. It was the curse of the riverside people, caused by the flies of the aquatic body. The books termed it river blindness and efforts to curb it have been penned down but it’s still ravaging lives. Not too far off his childhood friend is stuck on the wooden sit behind his house with both legs swollen, a typical replica of the elephant’s. Lymphatic filariasis, that’s what the community school principal termed it.

A little girl and her twin sleep on their feet, just like the majority of the nearby community. Their skin merely clinging to their bones and they had been long cast to the street because they had incurred the wrath of the gods, patches of sore mare their epidermis. They cry out in the street for help, they were just unfortunate to have sleeping sickness, Chagall disease, and leprosy. Close to their spot lays a teenager with protruding abdomen, the health centre doctor says it is ascites caused by schistosomiasis. He’s considered lucky because praziquantel will help curb it. Later reinfection will occur as the drugs serve for just treatment.

Then there’s that Dengue fever, which forced a majority to take a vaccine early last year. In an attempt to prevent the illness caused by the mosquito, its manifestation feels like the victims are extensions of the sun itself. Yellow eyes, palms also yellow too, the liver gets affected over time if not treated early. The pregnant lady who was fortunate to carry after years of trying just lost her child. Her adopted child has been vomiting frequently and her husband has been itching ever since their arrival. The people live with the yellow fever disease like it’s a part of them now, with few lives lost now and then.

Health equity cannot be overemphasized as this will help tackle the neglect of poverty-related diseases. There are all seventeen in number, the slow poisons gradually ravaging the small communities which have been forgotten by the world. The same efforts put in place to ensure the health preservation of individuals with the three big infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria) could also be channelled to the low-income populations too. These diseases require as much treatment and research funding. Also, working with the World Health Organization (WHO) global targets and adopting Mass drug administration may help to achieve health equity by terminating these neglected diseases.