From: barnhart@netcom.com (Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:NIGERIA: BATTLE TO ERADICATE GUINEA
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 14:58:56 GMT
Organization: Netcom
Reply-To: barnhart@netcom.com

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Latin America
Title: NIGERIA: BATTLE TO ERADICATE GUINEA-WORM INTENSIFIED


an inter press service feature

by remi oyo

iwo-oke, nigeria, aug 11 (ips) -- the nigerian government, with
the assistance of several non-governmental organisations, is
intensifying its battle against guinea-worm, a waterborne
parasitic worm common in tropical africa.

nigeria has the highest incidence of guinea-worm disease
(dracunculiasis) in the world with about 282,000 cases, followed
in africa by uganda and ghana.

it is a brutal and painful affliction caused by a microscopic
parasite which enters its victim when they drink contaminated
water. the female worm then migrates from the digestive system
through the body to a point just below the skin where it slowly
matures, over a year, growing to a length of up to three feet.

at maturity, the worm produces thousands of microscopic
larvae exiting from ''fiery'' blisters on the body,
contaminating the environment and water sources. the broken
blisters, with the worm exposed, can remain open for upto three
months. the debilitating disease is rarely fatal, but can cause
permanent disability through secondary infection.

an estimated 15 percent of the 5,000 inhabitants of this
settlement of iwo-oke, south-western nigeria, are threatened by
the ''foreigner'' as the guinea-worm is commonly known here.

there are no bridges or bamboo rafts over the ponds in this
remote village, so farmers and their families simply wade
through on their way to work and play, unaware of potential
infection by the parasite.

''we panicked when we first noticed the incidence in december
1991,'' says busari mayekioyekogbe ii, the traditional ruler of
iwo-oke.

''we informed the dispensary workers when it was getting out
of hand and they reported it to local government headquarters at
bode-osi, seven kilometres from here,'' says mayekioyekogbe.

''the timely intervention of the local and state governments
reduced the spread, otherwise this settlement would have been
empty by now because people would run away,'' he adds.

for eight-year-old sekina yekini, who is still limping from
the healing wound on her ankle, the memory of being infected by
guinea-worm is still painfully fresh in her mind.

''it started with my body itching. my mother gave me palm
oil to rub all over. later, my right ankle was swelling until a
point on it burst bringing out some whitish substance,'' yekini
told ips. (more/ips)


nigeria: battle (2)

''the dispenser covered the blister with medecine and cotton
wool after something very long and white came out. it pained me
seriously,'' yekini adds.

the guinea-worm can live up to 14 months although the males
have a shorter life span. there have been exceptional cases of
more than a score of the worms emerging simultaneously.

according to daniel olarinde, chair of the ogo-oluwa local
government area, who administerss iwo-oke and 220 other villages
in osun state, buckets and mono-filaments for sifting water as
well as deep wells have been provided to the community.
villagers need to be able to drink safe water for one year to
interrupt the annual cycle of transmission.

olarinde told ips the public awareness campaign ''has been
stepped up through the of use of village-based health workers,''
trained under the auspices of the national guinea-worm
eradication programme.

a broader view of the problem has been taken by the osun
government of civilian governor isiaka adeleke.

according to health commissioner taye ademokun, the
government has set december 1994 as the target for the total
eradication of guinea-worm from the state of 2.2 million people.

the government has launched an ''adopt-a-village scheme
aimed at mobilising all governments and non-governmental
organisation (ngos) to provide safe drinking water to known
guinea-worm villages in the state before april next year.''

already, a committee is at work to co-ordinate and monitor
proper implementation of promised interventions to guinea-worm
villages by various governments and agencies.

agencies such as global 2,000, an international ngo, the
world health organisation (who) and the u.n children's fund
(unicef) have contributed to the scheme, says prof. dele kale, a
chief coordinator of the national programme on guinea-worm
eradication.

kale, chief coordinator for the south west zone comprising
seven states, said the five-year-old federal government
assisted war on guinea-worm has yielded at least popular
awareness.

''we are now able to identify people and villages in the
remote parts of the country where nobody bothered about looking
before now.'' (end/ips/ro/tvh/oa/92)


-- 
Aaron (Barnhart@netcom.com) -- posting from Evanston, Illinois
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african