Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) Control and Prevention:

Nigeria is the most schistosomiasis-endemic country in Africa and among the most highly effected in the world. Yet until the Nigeria Ministry of Health and The Carter Center launched the schistosomiasis program in 1999, no one had been effectively addressing the disease in Nigeria.

Building on the existing community-based approach and drug distribution systems used in the river blindness and lymphatic filariasis programs in Nigeria, the Schistosomiasis Control Program was founded. Since 1999, the Center has been helping the state ministries of health distribute the drug praziquantel and provide health education to prevent the disease in villages in two Nigeria states, Nasarawa and Plateau. In 2004, the Center expanded its work to include the Delta state.

Preliminary surveys conducted in 1999 identified alarming needs: 1-in-5 school-aged children in Nigeria had blood in their urine and more than 90 percent of the tested villages were in need of treatment with praziquantel-because everyone, not just children, in the village should receive praziquantel.