Benue State Government said it has successfully eliminated blinding trachoma in three Local Government Areas of the state including Gwer East, Gwer West and Ukum.

The Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Paul Ogwuche, stated this during a press conference to commemorate the 2026 World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, organised in collaboration with Sightsavers. The event was themed, “Unite, Act, Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).”

The success followed sustained interventions under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Control and Elimination Programme of the Ministry of Health and Human Services.

Ogwuche who was represented by Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Beatrice Tsavmbu, disclosed that the achievement was the outcome of targeted interventions, strong community engagement and years of sustained efforts against neglected tropical diseases in the state.

He said “I am proud to announce the elimination of blinding trachoma in three of our most affected areas: Gwer East, Gwer West, and Ukum. No longer will these communities face the blindness that trachoma has long inflicted.”

The permanent secretary noted that despite the progress recorded, Benue State remains highly endemic for several neglected tropical diseases, with over six million residents at risk.

She “The 23 LGAs of Benue State have overlapping endemicity for Neglected Tropical Diseases such as Onchocerciasis or River blindness, Lymphatic filariasis or elephantiasis, schistosomiasis or bilharziasis, soil transmitted helminthes or Intestinal worms, leprosy, buruli ulcer and snake bite envenoming putting over 6 million people at risk.”

She disclosed that the state has treated an average of over five million persons in the last five years through preventive chemotherapy, morbidity management and disability prevention, alongside Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives and integrated vector control.

She also announced a major milestone in the fight against river blindness, saying, “In Benue State, we have made a historic step forward by reclassifying onchocerciasis

endemicity from ongoing transmission (red) to suspected interruption of transmission (tan).”

On lymphatic filariasis, Dr Tsavmbu disclosed that 1,064 hydrocele cases had been successfully managed through free surgeries, while 442 lymphoedema cases were supported with free management kits to prevent disease progression just as 44 trachoma trichiasis cases had also been treated through free surgeries.

She further revealed that Ukum, Logo and Konshisha local government areas had passed Transmission Assessment Survey 1 for lymphatic filariasis, making it possible to stop mass drug administration in those areas, while seven other LGAs; Ado, Apa, Kwande, Obi, Ohimini, Oju and Tarka, passed epidemiological monitoring surveys in 2025.

Tsavmbu attributed the successes to strong inter-sectoral collaboration with agencies such as the Benue Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (BERWASSA), the State Universal Basic Education Board, the Ministry of Education, civil society organisations and security agencies, as well as the inauguration of the State NTDs Advisory Committee and improved supply chain and logistics management systems.

In his remarks, Prof. Edward Omudu of the Department of Biological Sciences, Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi, disclosed that the National Universities Commission had “recently approved Nigerian universities to offer degree programs on Water Sanitation and Health. (The Sun)