Cross River State has announced a near 50 percent reduction in soil-transmitted helminth infections and a more dramatic decline in schistosomiasis infections across the state
The state health ministry, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Evidence Action Nigeria, announced this in Calabar, revealing a landmark achievement in the fight against neglected tropical diseases.
The announcement was made during the dissemination of the impact assessment report jointly authored by the Federal Ministry of Health, Evidence Action, and the state parasitologist.
Presenting the report, Senior Programme Manager at Evidence Action, Toochi Ohaji, stated that the state’s baseline prevalence for soil-transmitted helminth, which had stood at 24.5%, plummeted to 12.59% as of 2024.
“This is not an ordinary achievement,” Ohaji stated during the dissemination of the report, adding that “it gives us joy, the donors, the Federal Ministry of Health, the state, and all key stakeholders, to see that we have been able to reduce the burden of soil-transmitted helminth in Cross River.
“A whole lot of investment and resources went into this.”
The report highlighted that the reduction was consistent across various local government areas, with Akamkpa recording the highest reduction at 62%, while Biase recorded 19.5%.
The success in schistosomiasis control was even more pronounced, he added, explaining that “the assessment showed that state prevalence dropped from a baseline of 5.7% to a current 1.42%, representing a 76.6% rate reduction.
“For those of us in this programme, schistosomiasis is a more serious burden than soil-transmitted helminth in terms of planning, treatment, and monitoring.”
“The mean prevalence of schistosomiasis decreased by a 96% rate reduction at the state level (in specific metrics), with the highest decrease observed in Obudu,” he also said.
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Reflecting on the journey so far, Ohaji stated that the programme’s success came despite significant cultural and logistical hurdles.
The report also surveyed 2,082 pupils on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) practices.
While 73% of pupils reported washing their hands after using the restroom and 92% of schools taught health education, concerns remain over open defecation, with 14% of pupils still practicing it.
The assessment found that 60% of schools have toilets, but nearly half (43%) are in poor condition.
Furthermore, 52% of schools with toilets lacked access to water or tissue paper.
Despite the “whopping achievement,” the team warned that the work is far from over.
Under World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, “elimination” is only recognized when prevalence drops below 2%. While schistosomiasis has reached this threshold statewide (1.4%), STH remains at 12.6%.
“We still have much work to do. We keep pushing,” the senior programme manager at Evidence Action emphasized, adding that “the next line of action will be planning for another round of treatment for 2026.”
The report concluded that while seven years of preventive chemotherapy (deworming) have yielded massive gains, sustaining these results will require increased cross-sectoral collaboration to improve water and sanitation infrastructure across the state.
