KAMPALA — Uganda and neighboring Kenya are scheduled to carry out joint treatment of trachoma among pastoral communities who straddle the shared border, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
Mass drug administration will be carried out in three districts in the northeastern region, also known as Karamoja, targeting 118,500 people, the ministry said in a statement.
“The prevalence is currently at 18 percent of the population, and the plan is to bring it down to 5 percent by the end of the third round of drug administration in the third year,” it said.
“This has been organized together with the Ministry of Health in Kenya to administer the same drugs in the districts that neighbor Karamoja,” it added.
The ministry said the joint exercise was decided as there is a growing realization that administering the drugs at different times was not effective because of continued interaction of these communities that results in spreading the disease to each other.
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