Kaduna Intensifies Efforts to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis

From Femi Oyelola in Kaduna

The Kaduna State Ministry of Health has intensified efforts to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and other neglected tropical diseases by improving morbidity management and expanding community-based healthcare interventions across the state.

Director of Public Health, Dr. Abubakar Sadiq-Idris, disclosed this during a state review meeting on morbidity management and disability prevention supported by Sightsavers in Kaduna. He said the meeting assessed programme performance in the last implementation cycle, reviewing progress against annual targets, key indicators, and deliverables to identify gaps and evaluate the overall effectiveness of interventions.

The review also examined data quality and reporting systems, analysing completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of reports from health facilities and local governments, while identifying systemic challenges affecting documentation and decision-making processes. The discussions further focused on implementation challenges and best practices, including field-level barriers, resource constraints, training needs, and supply chain issues, while documenting successful strategies that improved service delivery outcomes.

Sadiq-Idris described neglected tropical diseases as conditions that received inadequate attention despite affecting large populations, particularly the poor, often causing disabilities such as swollen limbs and other debilitating complications. He cited elephantiasis and hydrocele as examples that severely limit mobility and productivity, noting that the ministry has implemented targeted strategies to reduce the burden of these morbidities.

According to him, the state has provided more than 200 free hydrocele surgeries in public facilities in collaboration with Sightsavers, significantly improving the health and well-being of affected residents. He added that supportive management was also offered to persons with lymphedema, including those with severely swollen limbs, alongside intensified sensitisation campaigns targeting rural communities to encourage access to services.

The ministry, he said, deployed integrated mobile outreach and clinics to remote communities, delivering maternal, child, and nutrition services, as well as immunisation, antenatal, and neglected tropical disease services, in underserved areas. He said that through community volunteers and engagement with traditional and religious leaders, the state had identified numerous cases and linked affected individuals to appropriate care and management services.

State Entity Coordinator Zainab Haruna identified poor documentation as a major challenge, noting that although hydrocele surgeries were performed, many cases were not properly documented in official records. She urged all health facilities, including tertiary institutions, to report hydrocele and lymphedema cases to enable accurate tracking of achievements and quarterly performance within the state.

Haruna said the goal was to increase the number of beneficiaries accessing morbidity management services while strengthening reporting systems to demonstrate measurable progress in disease control. She commended Sightsavers for training surgeons and expressed optimism that increased government funding would enable the training of additional specialists and expand service coverage.

Tabitha Kane of the Kaduna State Entity Unit of the Neglected Tropical Disease Programme at Sightsavers said the meeting reviewed activities around morbidity management for lymphatic filariasis. Kane noted that while hydrocelectomy surgeries were performed in public and private facilities, reporting remained weak, urging stronger government commitment to documentation to improve the chances of obtaining disease elimination certification.

She explained that proper documentation would support verification processes when assessors evaluated whether minimum requirements for certification as free of lymphatic filariasis had been met. Kane said nine surgeons and a lead surgeon were trained on updated hydrocele surgery techniques, significantly reducing complications and improving patient recovery outcomes across the state.

She added that health workers were also being trained to manage lymphedema cases effectively, ensuring patients with swollen limbs or related conditions receive quality care. Funding constraints remained a concern, she said, noting that hydrocele surgeries were costly and that some patients required transportation support due to the limited number of trained surgeons and facilities.

Kane urged the government to expand the training of surgeons to reduce travel distances for patients and ensure sustainability, stressing that partners could not remain indefinitely and that strong state ownership was essential.