DELSU VC laments govts’ inertia in tackling parasitic infections

Vice-Chancellor, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, Prof. Andy Egwunyenga, has raised the alarm over the lethargic attitude of African leaders in tackling parasitic infections in the continent.

He raised the concern on Thursday in a keynote address at the ongoing 46th Annual Conference of the Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria (PPSN), held in DELSU, Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state.

He lamented the concern over the increasing Tropical Parasitic Diseases(TPD) and the heavy burden it had placed on the region over the years, but with “no political will by African leaders to nip the crippling and killing parasites in the bud.”

Professor Egwunyenga expressed worries, warning that the consequences of parasitic infections are very devastating in terms of human sickness and deaths, as well as agriculture and animal grazing.

He, therefore, warned that governments in African countries must rise up to the challenge.

Egwunyenga, whose keynote address hinted at the theme of the 46th annual conference, “Political Will Towards Disease Control – The African Experience,” stressed that tropical parasites shorten lives, reduce the ability to work or attend school and impose a lifelong burden on Africa’s potential for development.

The professor of Parasitology and Public Health consultant bemoaned the burden of tropical diseases in Africa, though with far fewer resources.

He reiterated that diseases engender mass poverty, high fertility rate, slow economic growth, deforestation, rapid urbanization and increased migration, wars and natural disasters across the African continent.

These, according to him, are contributing to increased transmission and distribution of diseases, hence there must be an urgent need in building the political will for effective disease control, bridging the gap in health financing, priority setting and how best to improve prevention, monitoring and control of diseases rather than relying more on foreign aid such as World Bank.

He said although the World Bank only this year, allocated $100 million to support African countries in preparing for, detecting and responding to disease outbreaks and public emergencies, diseases cost the African region $2.4 trillion a year.

The DELSU boss further noted that nearly 639 million years of healthy life were lost in 2015 while In sub-Saharan Africa, an epidemiological transition in the last 20 years has seen the rise of non-communicable disease as the leading cause of death in many countries.

Speaking further, Prof. Egwunyenga viewed Africa’s Disease Burden With a population of 1.34 billion, to represent 16 per cent of the world’s population of 7.9 billion which, he maintained, carries 25 per cent of the world’s disease burden.

He revealed that Extreme poverty continues to drive an increased burden of disease in Africa because of 736 million people who lived on less than $1.90 a day, and more than 413 million of them were from sub-Saharan Africa.

He expressed worries that deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDS) were likely to increase by 17 per cent globally over the next 10 years, and African region will experience a whopping 27 per cent increase, which is 28 million additional deaths from conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

Prof. Egwunyenga, however, regretted that Nigeria’s government, compared to other African countries, has failed in ensuring that 15 per cent of its annual budgetary allocation goes to health due to the inability of government and politicians, particularly the National Assembly to set the right priorities.

Meanwhile, in his address, Prof. Sammy Sam-Wobo, President of PPSN, said the 2022 conference was well chosen considering the present realities in most African countries where parasitic diseases, especially Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), still hold sway and the various governments doing nothing to salvage the situation.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of a special logo designed by a member as the official logo for PPSN at 50, to kick-start awareness activities towards celebrating the society in 2023.

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