Nodding disease: vector control centre vital in Pader

By Petride Mudoola

PADER - Government should establish a vector control centre in Pader district in order to get rid of the nodding disease within the area, the LC5 Pader District Alfred Akena has advised.

Over 200 children have so far died of the mysterious disease in northern Uganda. Ministry of Health reported early this month that it had recorded 66 deaths as a result of the disease. The number has since more than tripled.

In an interview with New Vision, Akena said, “there is need for a vector centre to spray black flies because studies indicate that the nodding disease is a result of river blindness, a virus transmitted by black flies.”

He observed that majority of the affected people live a long river Achwa a breeding place for black flies.

"The centre will go a long way in reducing the vector through spraying the region.”

The vector control centre will also assist in ensuring that investigations are done within the locality instead of referring samples to Atlanta where they take long to get results.

Recent studies done by the health ministry and the Centre for Disease Control did not indicate any conclusive causes of the nodding disease but established that the number of children infected with the disease had  risen to over 3,000 from 2,000 reported at the beginning of this year.

Despite the increasing number of patients, the district staffing level stands at less than 30% with no practicing doctor.

"Consequently, health centres 11 and 111 are headed by nursing assistants yet they lack training in administration roles," noted Akena.

He appealed to Government to recruit more staff to handle patients affected by the disease in Pader district. The health workforce required includes mid wives, nurses and psychiatrics. 

More emphasis should be put in supporting the sick as the disease severely affects the body’s main system like the brain and the bones.

“The Ministry ought to come up with a comprehensive response plan to the plight of the affected children in terms of supportive treatment as regards special nutrition to improve their livelihoods so that they fully recover,” he suggested.