From our correspondent in Dakar,
Little black flies that love water… and human blood. Blackflies are the insects responsible for onchocerciasis, or river blindness. After repeated bites, the disease can live in the body for up to 15 years, and the patient eventually loses his sight gradually. A public health scourge which Senegal has tackled since the end of the 1980s.
« We first started with what we call “spreading” says Alioune Seck, acting manager of the Senegalese program to fight against onchocerciasis. ” They were planes that came to send insecticides to eliminate the larvae. »
A total of eight districts in southern Senegal are endemic, around the Gambia River and Falémé. After several years of spraying, the strategy evolved in the 1990s.” Now, there is a strategy in addition to that which is to give drugs. The molecule used is ivermectin which attacks the microfilariae to kill them. For years, Senegal has used this strategy “, continues Alioune Seck.
Ivermectin is an antiparasitic that has also proven its effectiveness against scabies and lymphatic filariasis. Administered as a curative and preventive treatment, it has enabled a leap forward towards the elimination of onchocerciasis.
Doctor Maimouna Diop Ly, public health specialist, has followed this fight from the start. ” In fact, it was a program that turned out to be quite successful in terms of public-private partnership since behind it, we had laboratories that gave the medicine free of charge and where it was the countries that sent it. “, she says.
A fight rich in lessons
The last drug distribution campaign took place in 2022. Last year, the National Program for the Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases deemed the transmission of onchocerciasis to be interrupted.
A fight rich in lessons for Dr. Ndeye Mbacké Kane, coordinator of the program to fight against neglected tropical diseases. ” Today, we are training technicians who will be responsible for catching flies. It is important. Also, there is collaboration with the education sector. This too is a lesson learned. Throughout this process, we campaign closely with them. “explains the doctor.
But there is still one last step before the elimination of transmission is validated by the WHO. “PTo declare the elimination of transmission, it will be necessary to lift a few more years. Carry out epidemiological surveys, entomological surveys on an annual basis to really ensure that we can speak of the elimination of transmission “warns Alioune Seck.
According to the national program, 300,000 cases of blindness have been avoided since the start of the fight against the disease. It was the leading cause of blindness in infested areas.