[size=14pt]Nigerian philanthropist donates US$1m to River blindness control in Africa[/size]
News - Africa news .

Abuja, Nigeria - The 16th session of the World Health Organisation African Programme for Onchocerciasis (River blindness) Control (WHO/APOC) opened in Abuja, Nigeria, Tuesday with a donation of US$1 million to the programme’s Trust Fund by a Nigerian philanthropist and a survivor of the blinding disease, retired Army General T.Y. Danjuma.

President Goodluck Jonathan also pledged Nigeria's continued support to the disease control programme and called for its extension beyond the pre-set exit date of 2015, to ensure complete elimination of the disease.

'I have had a personal experience with this disease and live with relatives and friends who are victims,' Gen. Danjuma told health ministers, donors, UN agencies, Non-governmental Development Organizations (NGDO) partners and private sector representatives gathered for the JAF session at the Transport Hilton, Abuja.

Danjuma hails from the northern state of Taraba, one of the 31 states in Nigeria that are affected by river blindness, a parasitic worm disease transmitted to humans by the black fly, usually in the remote communities. 

Speaking as special guest,  he said he suffered and survived the disease as a young military officer and had since 1996 supported a local NGDO, MITOSATH, as its grand patron in the fight against the disease.

'Today, I am happy to note that MITOSATH has expanded to include other health interventions to improve maternal and child health,' said Gen. Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff.

He urged Nigeria, which has 31 million or one-third of the total number of people at risk of river blindness in Africa, to donate handsomely towards bridging the US$66 million funding gap towards the elimination of the disease from Africa, where 30 countries are endemic with some 120 million people at risk.

In his address read by Health Minister Prof. Onyebuchi C. Chukwu, President Jonathan noted that Nigeria had in the past three years contributed annually an average of US$5 million (mostly in overhead costs) to the implementation of Community-Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI). 

More than 146,000 communities in 15 of 19 APOC participating countries are using the CDTI strategy, also known as community-directed intervention (CDI) strategy, which was introduced by WHO/APOC in 1997 for the control of river blindness.

Expressing “concern” about APOC’s possible exit in 2015, President Jonathan urged the international community to “encourage APOC to continue as there is no other viable regional body with the experience, institutional memory and exposure to coordinate the control, elimination/eradication and management of onchocerciasis.”

Speaking in a similar vein, Dr Luis Sambo, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said he looked forward to the outcome of the 16th JAF session “as this will allow partners and the executing agency make informed decisions about the way forward for the programme after 2015.”

“Given the laudable achievements of OCP (Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa of 1974-2002) and APOC, we must ensure that eliminating blindness from Africa is a success,” he added.

The JAF session, the first to be hosted by Nigeria, coincides with APOC’s 15th anniversary.

The Regional Director paid tribute to the programme’s director Dr Uche Amazigo of Nigeria, for her contributions to the disease control efforts and wished her a happy retirement, being her last JAF session at the helm of APOC.

In her goodwill message to the three-day governing board meeting being held under the theme “Join forces to make river blindness history,” the UNICEF Country Representative,
Dr Soumi Sakai, noted that her agency’s support to river blindness control in Nigeria - which started in 1991 in 10 states - had grown to serve an estimated 15 million living in more than 13,000 communities in the country.

In her address of welcome, Dr Amazigo expressed gratitude to all APOC partners for their support and appealed for continuation of the support adding: “If APOC is allowed to
sunset in 2015, the huge health and socio-economic gains over the past 30 years will be lost and blindness may return.”

The opening ceremony featured traditional dances with African music icon, Onyeka Onwenu, entertaining guests with her popular numbers “Ekwe and One Love.”

http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/nigerian-philanthropist-donates-us$1m-to-river-blindness-control-in-africa-2010120863449.html

please where this man get all these money from if a common minister can rich like this I wonder how much more ibb will rich

johnmartus: please where this man get all these money from if a common minister can rich like this I wonder how much more ibb will rich

see this>>>>>

http://www.ventures-africa.com/2012/07/10-nigerian-billionaire-oil-tycoons-to-watch-pt-1/

Ok

johnmartus: please where this man get all these money from if a common minister can rich like this I wonder how much more ibb will rich

Face your studies first. You need it more than worrying about Danjuma.