Date: 2018-01-25

Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara has called for the eradication of communicable diseases ravaging rural communities in the country.

The governor made the call on Tuesday in Ilorin while receiving delegates from Damien Foundation Belgium, led by its country Representative, Dr Osman Eltayeb.

Ahmed specifically said steps must be taken to eradicate diseases like Tuberculosis and leprosy in the environment.

He noted that the responsibility of eradicating these communicable diseases was beyond what government can do alone, calling on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), corporate bodies and individuals to partner with government to eradicate the diseases.

Ahmed said the state has committed resources to support preventive cases and made support available at the primary level of healthcare delivery system to ensure quality and adequate healthcare available across the state.

"Our government has done so much on support for primary and secondary health and we are still planning to support tertiary health care for an improved healthcare delivery," he said.

Earlier, Eltayeb said the NGO has been in the country since 1993 with the aim of eradicating Tuberculosis and Leprosy.

He stated that the NGO was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health to combat the Tuberculosis and Leprosy, adding that Kwara has been selected for capacity building on both diseases.