The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday hailed the
elimination of several life-threatening diseases in developing
nations as a major breakthrough for public health.
Visceral
leishmaniasis – a parasitic disease spread by sandflies
– has been wiped out in Bangladesh, along with rubella in the
Democratic Republic of Korea (more commonly known as North Korea)
said WHO in a statement.
Bangladesh has become the first country to be validated for the
elimination of visceral leishmaniasis (also known as kala azar),
which is a life-threatening neglected tropical disease that is
common in the region.
The country achieved the elimination target of less than one case
per 10,000 population at a “sub-district level” in 2017, and has
sustained this progress despite disruptions caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maldives leprosy milestone
Maldives is the first country to verify an interruption of the
transmission of leprosy, having achieved the milestone of no
child case detection for more than five consecutive years.
In 2019, Maldives published a framework with clear milestones to
reach leprosy elimination by 2030.
An independent assessment team from WHO highlighted high
political will and community motivation - along with strong
health systems and minimal evidence of stigma and discrimination
towards persons affected by leprosy - as the key factors for the
island nation’s success.
DPR Korea success
Based on evidence provided by the National Verification Committee
of DPRK, the WHO’s Southeast Asia Regional Verification
Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination concluded that the
endemic rubella virus has been eliminated from the country.
North Korea introduced the measles-rubella vaccine into standard
childhood immunization programmes in November 2019 after
successfully carrying out a wide age range immunization campaign
targeting nine month to 15-year-old children and 16 to
18-year-old women with measles and rubella vaccines.
Through this mass immunization activity, achieving more than 99.8
per cent coverage in a target population of around six million,
the country rapidly built substantial population immunity for
rubella.
“Neglected tropical diseases like lymphatic filariasis, visceral
leishmaniasis and leprosy, along with the threat to children and
young people posed by rubella, require continued national
leadership, commitment and collaborative action by countries and
health partners worldwide,” said WHO Director-General Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“I salute the great progress made, in line with WHO guidance, by
Bangladesh and Maldives on protecting their populations from such
NTDs, and from Bhutan, DPR Korea and Timor-Leste for their work
to eliminate rubella as a public health threat. These
achievements will positively impact the lives of the most
vulnerable populations now and in the future.”
‘Tremendous Achievements’
Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh congratulated
Bangladesh, Maldives, and DPR Korea for these public health
achievements at the ongoing seventy-sixth Regional Committee
Session. She also commended Bangladesh for the elimination of
lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem and Bhutan and
Timor-Leste for eliminating rubella earlier this year.
“These are tremendous achievements, an outcome of a deeply held
strategic vision and culture that together, over the past decade
and beyond, we have created. A vision and culture that strives to
advance the health and well-being not of some, or even many
people, but of all people, everywhere,” she said.
