DIPLOMAN TIMES

Health stakeholders in Cross River have called for stronger community participation and collaboration to accelerate efforts against neglected tropical diseases, with particular attention to onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.

The call was made during a workshop in Calabar organised by Nigeria Health Watch in partnership with the Cross River State Government. The engagement brought together representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, state health institutions, the NTD Unit, development partners, traditional institutions, local government and community health officers, alongside civil society and religious organisations.

The programme is currently at pilot stage in Akamkpa, Etung and Boki Local Government Areas. The source identifies the communities as vulnerable to transmission of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis because of their forested terrain, fast-flowing rivers and proximity to the Cameroon border.

Nigeria Health Watch's Cross River Coordinator, Hannah Achu, said the organisation was collaborating with the Global Institute for Disease Elimination on advocacy and communication efforts aimed at eliminating onchocerciasis. She said Cross River remained a major concern on the onchocerciasis map because of its extensive border communities and reported disease recrudescence in linked areas of Cameroon.

The State Coordinator for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Godwin Omeji, said stronger engagement would improve sensitisation and community participation, including efforts to address cultural practices that can affect medicine distribution. He also called for increased government funding for NTD interventions. Traditional and public-health representatives similarly stressed the value of cooperation between experts, communities and institutions.

Participants discussed evidence from GLIDE and a KAPB baseline assessment, community knowledge, integrated engagement, primary-healthcare gaps and barriers to disease elimination. They subsequently produced a 21-point communique outlining proposed actions and commitments. The outcome places community participation and coordinated health-system action at the centre of the current Cross River NTD response.