When he is not scoring goals, Super Eagles’ strike William Ekong is busy raising awareness on an important health cause.
The Nigerian star has joined the campaign to raise awareness of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), which is said to affect more than 120 million Nigerians.
According to the Center for Disease Control, NTDs are a group of parasitic and bacterial diseases that cause substantial illness for more than one billion people globally. Of these, 865 million are children. People living in Subsaharan Africa are more at risk of these diseases.
The WHO lists the following as NTDs:
- Chagas disease
- Cysticercosis
- Dengue fever
- Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease)
- Echinococcosis
- Fascioliasis
- Human African Trypanosomiasis (African Sleeping Sickness)
- Leishmaniasis
- Leprosy (Hansen’s disease)
- Lymphatic filariasis
- Onchocerciasis
- Rabies
- Schistosomiasis
- Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH) (Ascaris, hookworm, and whipworm)
- Trachoma
Six of the NTDs can be controlled or even eliminated through mass administration of safe and effective medicines (mass drug administration, MDA), or other, effective interventions. These include:
- Drancunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease)
- Lymphatic filariasis
- Onchocerciasis
- Schistosomiasis
- Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH) (Ascaris, hookworm, and whipworm)
- Trachoma
In the awareness-raising video, Ekong explains that the diseases are curable and preventable. He urges everyone to take any medicine that is given to them by health workers in relation to the control of any of these diseases.
“Keep the ball rolling,” he tells his watchers, “spread the word to your family and friends and let’s be the generation that will beat NTDs,” he fires.
Watch the clip below:
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