SCHISTOSOMIASIS & HIV CONTROL, ANYONE?
Erle Frayne D. Argonza
Good day from Manila!
Schistosomiasis
occurrences in any area is one risk factor behind HIV diffusion. By dint of the
logic of its epidemiology, controlling schistosomiasis in the same area is one
effective intervention aimed at eradicating or at least reducing the incidence
of AIDS.
The shisto ailment has
been among the contagious parasitical diseases in my country, notably in the
poor region of Samar-Leyte. As of a decade ago, the disease has already
alarmingly spread to as far north as the coastal towns of Cagayan province, my
home from infancy to early adolescence. Any panacea to the ailment is welcome
to one like me who has been honed in enormous field works.
Africa would surely score higher in the health &
wellness scale should it undertake a continent-wide schistosomiasis control and
eradication. One less risk factor would redound to robust addressing of the
other dangerous ailment of AIDS arising out of the HIV virus.
The update report on the
subject is shown below.
[Manila, 22 April 2013]
Schistosomiasis control a route to cutting HIV in Africa
23 April 2013 | EN
[KAMPALA]
The transmission of HIV
in Sub-Saharan Africa could be slashed if efforts are made to combat the spread
of the waterborne disease schistosomiasis
by providing clean water, sanitation and health education, a study reports. Genital schistosomiasis, which causes vaginal ulcers, has long been known as a risk factor for HIV infection, as well as infertility and miscarriage, among women in Africa. It is caused by a flatworm transmitted through dirty water.
SPEED READ
·
Schistosomiasis
causes vaginal ulcers in women, making them vulnerable to HIV
·
Clean water
and sanitation are a cost-effective way to reduce schistosomiasis and therefore
HIV
·
The
international community should treat schistosomiasis control with a new urgency
To test whether schistosomiasis infections
could be reduced in a cost-effective manner, researchers from Norway, South
Africa and the United
States plugged epidemiological and clinical data from Zimbabwe into a
mathematical model.They found that community-based interventions — providing universal clean water, sanitation and education, as well as the drug praziquantel to treat schistosomiasis in children — would be cost-effective way of cutting the two infections at between US$725 and US$1,000 per individual over a period of 20 years.
This is similar to the estimates of what it would cost to provide clean water and sanitation in developing countries (between US$200 and US$1,020).
And because these interventions can reduce schistosomiasis and HIV transmission, as well as diarrhoeal disease and bacterial infections caused by infected water, they should be economically attractive to policymakers, the researchers write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) last week (15 April).
"By reducing schistosomiasis transmission in Africa, [provision of] water, sanitation and health would reduce the prevalence of women at an increased risk of HIV infection due to genital schistosomiasis," says Martial L. Ndeffo Mbah, the study's lead researcher, and a public health specialist based at Yale University, United States.
"This
will in turn reduce HIV transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa, and especially in
areas where schistosomiasis and HIV are highly prevalent.
Schistosomiasis, or bilharzia, affects more than 240 million people worldwide, with 90 per cent of cases in Africa, according to the WHO.
Genital schistosomiasis is usually acquired by children and women. It lives in the bladder and genital tract, causing lesions around the vagina and cervix and resulting in a condition known clinically as female genital schistosomiasis.
Edridah Tukahebwa, an entomologist and chief schistosomiasis specialist at Uganda's Ministry of Health, says the study is an important development for Sub-Saharan Africa, for the fight against HIV and for women.
Mbah says that the study should provide new urgency for international donors and public health authorities on the importance of schistosomiasis control in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly as this will also likely reduce the burden on health systems on the continent.
The WHO recommends preventive chemotherapy as a global strategy for the control of schistosomiasis. It also warns that, without adequate attention and research, the disease may hamper Africa's ability to make real progress towards the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Schistosomiasis, or bilharzia, affects more than 240 million people worldwide, with 90 per cent of cases in Africa, according to the WHO.
Genital schistosomiasis is usually acquired by children and women. It lives in the bladder and genital tract, causing lesions around the vagina and cervix and resulting in a condition known clinically as female genital schistosomiasis.
Edridah Tukahebwa, an entomologist and chief schistosomiasis specialist at Uganda's Ministry of Health, says the study is an important development for Sub-Saharan Africa, for the fight against HIV and for women.
Mbah says that the study should provide new urgency for international donors and public health authorities on the importance of schistosomiasis control in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly as this will also likely reduce the burden on health systems on the continent.
The WHO recommends preventive chemotherapy as a global strategy for the control of schistosomiasis. It also warns that, without adequate attention and research, the disease may hamper Africa's ability to make real progress towards the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
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