The Ministry of Health Zanzibar has officially announced that eyelid disease has disappeared after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the disease is no longer a threat in the islands of Unguja and Pemba.
The Minister of Health Zanzibar Nassor Ahmed Mazrui has said this in a meeting to celebrate and congratulate Zanzibar for being able to eradicate eyelid diseases from 11.4 percent in 2015 to 1.2 percent in 20023 where the meeting involved stakeholders from different countries as well as international organizations.
He said that due to the efforts taken by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar and development partners, they have been able to successfully eliminate eyelid diseases in Micheweni Pemba and North A Unguja Districts where he noted that they will ensure that these diseases do not return again in this country.
He informed that a great deal of work was done to combat the disease, including feeding medicine, giving treatment to people who were affected by the disease, as well as providing education along with conducting regular researches in collaboration with experts from different countries.
He has asked the people of Unguja and Pemba islands, especially for the areas that were affected by the disease in the past, to ensure that they implement everything given to them by the experts along with cleaning their environment so that the disease does not return to this country.
On her part, the Coordinator of Eye Services at the Ministry of Health Zanzibar, Dr. Fatma Juma Omar, has said that due to the efforts made by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar and development partners, by providing medicine in a three-fold cycle, and when it reached the year 2021, they conducted a study and determined the decrease in diseases of the eyelids to continue to make more efforts to get rid of the disease.
He said that the current task is to continue to encourage citizens to implement various measures to protect themselves from these diseases, including using toilets, using clean and safe water, and continuing to provide health education through students within schools and the community in general.
On his part, the Director of the International program to combat eyelid diseases Dr. Paul Emerson has said that the world is proud of the progress achieved by Zanzibar in eradicating eyelid diseases.
He has said that they will continue the efforts made and ensure that there are collaborations with various organizations in the world to see that eyelid disease is eradicated worldwide.
