By Kelvin Obambon
The Cross River State Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Evidence Action Nigeria has announced a landmark achievement in the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), revealing a near 50 percent reduction in Soil-Transmitted Helminth (STH) and an even more dramatic decline in Schistosomiasis (SCH) infections across the state.
The findings were made public on Tuesday, January 13, 2025, at the Essential Drugs Complex in Calabar, during the dissemination of the Impact Assessment report jointly authored by the Federal Ministry of Health, Evidence Action, and the State Parasitologist.
Presenting the report, Toochi Ohaji, Senior Programme Manager at Evidence Action, disclosed that the state’s baseline prevalence for Soil-Transmitted Helminth, which stood at 24.5%, has plummeted to 12.59% as of 2024.
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“This is not an ordinary achievement,” Ohaji stated during the dissemination of the report. “It gives us joy – the donors, the Federal Ministry of Health, the state, and all key stakeholders – to see that we have been able to reduce the burden of soil-transmitted helminth in Cross River. A whole lot of investment and resources went into this.”
The report highlighted that the reduction was consistent across various Local Government Areas (LGAs), with Akamkpa recording the highest reduction at 62%, while Biase recorded 19.5%.
The success in Schistosomiasis (SCH) control was even more pronounced. The assessment showed that state prevalence dropped from a baseline of 5.7% to a current 1.42%, representing a 76.6% rate reduction.
“For those of us in this programme, Schistosomiasis is a more serious burden than soil-transmitted helminth in terms of planning, treatment, and monitoring,” Ohaji explained. “The mean prevalence of Schistosomiasis decreased by a 96% rate reduction at the state level (in specific metrics), with the highest decrease observed in Obudu.”
Reflecting on the journey so far, Ohaji stated that the programme’s success came despite significant cultural and logistical hurdles. He recounted battling “unfounded rumors” and propaganda that initially hindered sample collection in rural communities.
“We had rumors of people saying we were collecting children’s stool for rituals,” he noted. “Parents were running to schools to take their children away. We had to carry out high-level advocacy and sensitization to inform the people that this was for their health. In one instance, a Paramount Ruler in Northern Cross River had to intervene personally to dispel these myths and support the health teams.”
The report also surveyed 2,082 pupils on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) practices. While 73% of pupils reported washing their hands after using the restroom and 92% of schools taught health education, concerns remain over open defecation, with 14% of pupils still practicing it.
The assessment found that 60% of schools have toilets, but nearly half (43%) are in poor condition. Furthermore, 52% of schools with toilets lacked access to water or tissue paper.
Despite the “whopping achievement,” the team warned that the work is far from over. Under WHO guidelines, “elimination” is only recognized when prevalence drops below 2%. While Schistosomiasis has reached this threshold statewide (1.4%), STH remains at 12.6%.
“We still have much work to do. We keep pushing,” the senior programme manager at Evidence Action emphasized. “The next line of action will be planning for another round of treatment for 2026. We will decide which LGAs need treatment once a year, twice a year, or once every two years,” he stated.
The report concluded that while seven years of preventive chemotherapy (deworming) have yielded massive gains, sustaining these results will require “increased cross-sectoral collaboration” to improve water and sanitation infrastructure across the state.
Present at the event were Mrs Imaobong Umah, Director/Programme Manager, National Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis Elimination Programme, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; Permanent Secretary, Cross River State Ministry of Health, Dr Jonah Offor, who was represented by Patrick Odu, Ag. Director of the Department of Public Health in the ministry.
There were goodwill messages from the state ministry of education, primary healthcare development agency, SUBEB, Evidence Action, among others.
