Checking Vector-Borne Diseases

On Monday April 7, the World celebrated
the World Health Day with the theme
“Vector-borne Diseases – Small Bites, Big Threat.” The theme for this year could not have been better because of the many small insects that have been taken for granted especially in rural Africa.
Incidentally, the ignorance of the danger of these little members of their communities has made people to blame the imaginary witch and wizard for the many seemingly strange ailments and deaths that take place in the rural and poorly sanitised communities.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is a rising occurrence of vector-borne diseases across the world. They say people are more at risk of malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, lyme disease, schistosomiasis and yellow fever that are carried by mosquitoes, flies, ticks, water snails among others.
The World Health Organisation stated that not only are one million persons lost to these tiny creatures yearly, half of the world population is actually at risk of these vector-borne diseases, while one billion is infected. The worst part of it is that people do not know and fail to take the needed steps until the inevitable happens.
Perhaps, also worthy of note is the fact that some of the vector-borne diseases are easily transferable from one human to another. Indeed, the fact that it could be transferred by air and thrive in tropical climates should serve to raise the alarm in this part of the world.
When the Christian Bible states that “my people perish for lack of knowledge”, mankind did not ever imagine that some of the very harmless looking insects in their homes, farms, parks and storages can be deadly. But science has shown that the bite of some of them can be as deadly as that of a scorpion or snake.
We cannot thank the United Nations enough for bringing to public knowledge this information that would help in saving more lives and compelling the government to extend attention to that area of human health and safety. Knowing how mosquitoes alone made Africa the graveyard of a lot of white men and black men too, a combination of the army of little creatures can wreak the havoc that can overwhelm any ignorant population.
As the saying goes, health is wealth, a nation that takes light the health of her citizens should as well say goodbye to its economy and survival. It is true that the health challenges of mankind may have become many, neither the individuals nor the government can afford to give in.
That is why we think that the focus of the World Health Day for this year needs to be taken very seriously. We think that governments across the world should take deliberate steps at finding cure for vector-borne diseases, but must also look for vaccines and sustain adequate enlightenment that would equip humanity against their silent invasion.
In some communities, these tiny insects have not only attacked the health of the people but reduced their treasured goods and roof members of their houses to dust. In some cases, they have manifested as pests to farm crops and domestic animals. The presence of chicken lice alone is known to have diminished human health.
Over the years, the world has had to deal with sars and avian flu. Interestingly, the huge cost involved is hardly the news, but the ability to get rid of such health hazards. Because prevention is always better than cure, households and communities may need to seek medical advice over the need to fumigate their environments to get rid of these “little tigers.”
Indeed, government may need to lead out by ensuring that all public buildings are fumigated at least once in a year. Developers should also look for better materials for roofing, windows and doors to avoid building failures that would expose people to the bitter hatred of these vectors.
The foregoing clearly underscores the wisdom of the Rivers State Government under Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi when it embarked on the roll back malaria programme. In addition to spraying micro bio-larvacites, the State government was to build a factory that would manufacture the chemical that would eliminate the eggs that become mosquitoes.
We also note the deliberate effort at taking healthcare to the door steps of every Rivers man. The building of model health centres and the posting of medical doctors to the rural areas are clearly the feat that can protect the Rivers people for a long time to come.
But something new and effective needs to be done to protect the population, let it be done now to avoid anything that may have to do with vectors becoming endemic in our society.