By; Ben Musanje
Government has continued to indicate that Karamoja region and some few parts of Northern Region are the only areas of focus that still have river blindness transmission although progress has been registered to eliminate the parasite that causes the infection.
Delivering her speech at the 10th Uganda Onchocerciasis Elimination Conference in Kampala, the Minister for Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng says that about 16 districts are free from river blindness with over 1.2 million people protected from the transmission.
River blindness also known as onchocerciasis is caused by a parasite acquired through a black fly bite and generally occurs in areas with swift rivers.
The Minister says that they are in planned assessments to reveal the current status of neglected tropical disease and expect more districts to achieve transmission interaction within the course of the year.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Uganda Dr Jack Abdoulie Dodou believes that achieving elimination in Uganda by the goal date of 2020 will require dealing with cross border transmission.
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