Nadia Ben Meriem, Programme Manager for Cote d'Ivoire at SCI, helps launch the second national treatment campaign for schistosomiasis.
Control activities against schistosomiasis in the country began in 2012, with the collaboration between the National Programme for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Ministry of Health in Cote d'Ivoire and SCI.
Thanks to the financial support of the UK government’s Department for International Development and also private funders in the UK, over 5 million treatments have been delivered to school-age children to date.
Nadia helped jointly launch the next round of mass drug administration (MDA) in the country on 19 October, alongside representatives from the Ministry of Health for Cote d'Ivoire, the World Health Organisation and Merck (who donate praziquantel).
It was estimated that over 2,000 guests were in attendance at the event, along with a range of international French media channels, providing great coverage for SCI and its mission.
As well as this event, Nadia will be taking part in interviews for local radio and TV channels. This will help raise awareness about the importance of schistosomiasis treatment and ensure the success of the second round of MDA, which aims to treat 2.4 million school-age children.
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Reporter
Demran Ali
School of Public Health
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Email: press.office@imperial.ac.uk
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