By MOSES OKEYA & ABUBAKER KIRUNDA
he Ministry of Health in partnership with Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, has launched a five-year campaign aimed at eradicating trachoma in the country.
Trachoma is one of the 13 neglected tropical diseases transmitted through house flies and mechanical means such as dirty clothes and hands.
The disease slowly robs people of sight as repeated infections turn eyelashes inward, scraping the cornea and eventually causes irreversible blindness.
The campaign was launched by the State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties, Dr Elioda Tumwesigye in Buwenge Town, Jinja District on Tuesday.
The national coordinator of neglected tropical diseases in the Ministry of Health, Dr Edridah Tukahebwa, told the gathering that the initiative is targeting 17 districts in Busoga and Karamoja regions. “The target is 17 districts, 10 from Busoga and seven from Karamoja where 38,834, whose blinding trachoma is in advanced stages known as trichiasis, will have undergone corrective surgery by 2019,” Dr Tukahebwa said.
He hailed Jubilee Trust for its aid, saying Uganda was committed to the global initiative of eradicating trachoma by 2020.
FRENCH VERSION
La maladie lentement prive les gens de la vue comme des infections répétées tournerles cils vers l’intérieur, grattant la cornée et finit par provoque une cécité irréversible.
La campagne a été lancée par le ministre d’Etat pour la santé en charge de fonctionsgénérales, Dr Elioda Tumwesigye dans la ville de Buwenge, District de Jinja mardi.
Le coordonnateur national des maladies tropicales négligées dans le ministère de lasanté, Dr Edridah Tukahebwa, dit le rassemblement que l’initiative vise 17 districts desrégions de Busoga et Karamoja. « L’objectif est de 17 districts, 10 de Busoga et septde Karamoja où 38 834, dont trachome cécitant est en avancée stades appeléstrichiasis, volonté ont subi une chirurgie corrective en 2019, », a déclaré le DrTukahebwa.
Il a salué Jubilee Trust pour son aide, disant que l’Ouganda a été commis à l’initiativemondiale d’éradication de trachome d’ici à 2020.
