The second edition of the campaign against neglected diseases was launched in Yaounde on Friday May 8, 2015.
Some tropical diseases tend to be neglected, with the main ones being onchorcecaisis, filaria, leprosy, yaws, trachoma, trypanosomiasis, buruli ulcer and leishmaniose, among others. These diseases have been neglected for long, whereas there exists treatment for them. It is in this light that the second edition of the campaign against neglected tropical diseases was launched at the Government Bilingual High School in Yaounde on Friday, May 8, 2015.
Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda, said the objective of the campaign was to incite the public on the need to better protect themselves against neglected tropical diseases. He said since 2009, the government has been engaged in bringing about solutions to neglected tropical diseases through five national programmes such as the National Programme for the Fight Against Onchosechaisis (PNLO), the National Programme for the Fight Against Schistosomiases and Geo helminthiases (PNLCé) in charge of Trachoma (PNLP2LUB) and the National Programme for the Fight Against Trypanosomiasis. André Mama Fouda said the results were encouraging, but more still needed to be done.
He announced that the government intends to begin a new programme to fight neglected tropical diseases from 2015 to 2020. He used the occasion to hail the efforts of national and international partners who have contributed immensely in the fight against neglected tropical diseases. Earlier, the Representative of the World Health Organisation, Jean Baptiste Roungou, said the fight against neglected tropical diseases was the responsibility of all. He called on all partners to help the government in fighting neglected tropical diseases.
The event ended with a de-worming exercise for the students of the school by the Minister of Public Health and his guests. Last Friday’s ceremony took place in the presence of cabinet ministers, the diplomatic corps, representatives of international organisations and other guests.
