SCI Supports 2006 and 2007 Deworming of School Age Children in CameroonIn 2006, the first treatment campaign of recent times was conducted in Cameroon. In all 170,000 school age children were treated (150,000 from the Adamaoua province and 20,000 from one health district in the Littoral province) with praziquantel and albendazole against schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths. The mass drug administration was possible with support from SCI which donated praziquantel and albendazole drugs, and from the World Food Programme, Canadian Cooperation and UNICEF. In 2007, under the framework of the Mebendazole Donation Initiative, Johnson & Johnson donated 4 million tablets of Mebendazole to Cameroon. This meant that free deworming of school age children in Cameroon could be launched on the 20th February 2007 by the Minister of Public Health and the Minister of Basic Education. The launch was attended by national and international partners, including an important delegation from Johnson & Johnson. On this momentous occasion, the government and partners reaffirmed their commitment and galvanised communities, international development agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders to join their effort to implement wider disease control and prevention. The first deworming campaign of 2007 was organised in 4 of the 10 provinces of Cameroon in May 2007 (Littoral, West, East and Centre), when approximately 2 million school age children were dewormed with mebendazole. In an area endemic for schistosomiasis, mebendazole plus praziquantel was given to 20,000 children. A second deworming campaign is scheduled in October 2007, and this will take place in the 6 remaining provinces (South, South-West, North-West, Adamawa, North and Extreme-North), targeting another 2 million school age children. Further support and partnership are required to sustain this initiative and ensure the Cameroonian Government can complete its commitment to control these neglected tropical diseases.
|
