Mr. Fred Aleburu, the Country Director of a nongovernmental organisation (NGO); African American Centre for Governance and Development, had on Thursday said the organisation would carry out sensitisation on vector-borne diseases in schools within the FCT.
Aleburu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the campaign is important to prevent vector borne-diseases and severe dengue known as dengue hemorrhagic fever for a healthy living.
According to him, vectors are organisms that transmit pathogens and parasites from one infected person or animal to another, causing serious diseases in human populations.
He said, “Dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue virus serotypes. It is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults with symptoms appearing three to 14 days after the infective bite.”
Abeburu explained that the campaign would help reduce the spread of disease because awareness is the best way to prevent infections and illnesses.
According to him, these diseases are commonly found in tropical and sub-tropical regions and places where access to safe drinking-water and sanitation systems is problematic. “Vector-borne diseases account for 17 per cent of the estimated global burden of all infectious diseases.
“The most deadly vector-borne disease, malaria, caused an estimated 627 000 deaths in 2012.
“The world’s fastest growing vector-borne disease is dengue, with a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the last 50 years.
“We will continue to enlighten the public, especially schools to prevent diseases”, he said.
Aleburu said that the project would take off in selected public and private schools in the FCT and it would commence in the third week of May.
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