Lancement du Programme National de Lutte Contre la Schistosomiase au Burkina Faso
From SCI, the Director Dr Alan Fenwick spoke at the opening and pledged support to the programme for four years. Dr Albis Gabrielli (Country Coordinator), Dr Seydou Touré (National Coordinator) and Dr Jean Noel Poda (Monitoring and Evaluation) participated in the ceremony as did Dr and Mrs Bertrand Sellin from RISEAL, the NGO which acts as local manager for SCI in Burkina Faso.
After the opening ceremony the dignitaries were received by His Majesty the King of Yatenga who thanked everyone for their support towards improving the health of the children of the District and the country. The programme team has already started mapping and collecting base line data. It is planned to treat some 500,000 people during October/November 2004, and over 1 million in 2005. |
On Thursday May
6th, the National Programme for the Control of Schistosomiasis
was launched in the town square of Ouahigouya in North West Burkina Faso,
180 km from the capital Ouagadougou. The ceremony was attended by His
Majesty the King of Yatenga and the Minister of Health, the Hon Alain Yoda,
and the permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Health and Education.
Other important guests included Dr Mohamad Mahmoud Hacen, the World Health
Organisation country representative, plus schistosomiasis project managers
from Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Niger, the regional WHO officer responsible for
endemic diseases Dr Abdoulaye Diarra, and several local High Commissioners. 
As has become
the norm for launch events, there was bright music and dancing, and poetry
from school children. Some children were treated with praziquantel and
albendazole. The Hon Alain Yoda praised the work of the local coordinator Dr
Seydou Touré, and thanked SCI and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for
their support.