The Zanzibar Ministry of Health has said that a great effort has been made to end eyelid disease in the islands of Unguja and Pemba.
The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Health Zanzibar Hassan Khamis Hafidh has said that the efforts made by doctors, experts and various development partners have succeeded in ending the disease in this country.
Speaking in a special session to complete the report on the end of the eyelid disease, the Deputy Minister said that the disease which developed in the district of Micheweni in the North Pemba region has been able to end.
He has informed that for more than ten years Zanzibar has succeeded in ending eyelid disease and said that the Ministry of Health Zanzibar together with mainland Tanzania will prepare a special report and submit it to the World Health Organization (WHO) to officially announce the end of the disease in mainland Tanzania and the islands.
On the part of the Director of Prevention and Health Education Zanzibar, Dr. Salim Slim, said the Ministry of Health will ensure that it continues to provide education to the community on how to protect oneself from eyelid disease and that it does not return again in this country.
He said that a great effort was made to deal with the disease in Micheweni to monitor patients, provide education and ensure that they do not get new patients with the disease and said they will continue to provide education to the community.
And the Coordinator of the Eye Health Service in Zanzibar, Dr. Fatma Omar, has said that eyelid disease has been eradicated through various efforts, including the feeding of medicines and the monitoring of patients, which has made it possible to control the disease.
He said that they will ensure that they provide education to the community to protect themselves from eyelid diseases so that they do not become a problem for the people of the islands of Unguja and Pemba.
On his part, the non-prioritized disease project manager Peter Kivumbi has said that the success has been achieved due to different development partners who supported the Government’s efforts in fighting eyelid disease in Tanzania.
