ABOUT 200,000 Ugandans are blind, the health state minister has said. Dr. Emmanuel Otaala said 27 districts, especially those around fast-flowing rivers, are affected by the river blindness.
They include Yumbe, Moyo, Adjumani, Mbale, Sironko, Kabale and Kanungu districts.
Otaala was on Tuesday briefing journalists about the 14th Joint Action Forum on the control of river blindness to be held at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala from December 8-11.
The forum, to be opened by President Yoweri Museveni, will be attended by health ministers and partners from over 19 countries.
“More than 1.8 million people are affected by river blindness in Uganda,” Otaala said.
“We hope to discuss cross-border interventions so that we can eliminate the disease from our region as was the case in West Africa.”
River blindness or onchocerciasis is caused by a parasitic worm and is spread by the bite of an infected blackfly.
It is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness and skin disease in African countries.
The disease is frequent in agricultural villages located near fast-flowing streams.
Dr. Laurent Yamego, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control coordinator, said: “The disease has a strong socio-economic impact on the population as it deters people from engaging in meaningful productivity as they constantly scratch themselves or are blind.”
Dr. John Rwakimari, the national coordinator, said the prevalence rate had reduced from 60% in 1993 to 20% in 2008.
“We have been spraying rivers with a chemical, Abate or Temaphos, which kills the larvae harboured in the crabs, reducing the spread of the disease.”
The health ministry has been administering Ivermectin through the support of community initiatives, Rwakimari said.
