Recently, the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) in collaboration with the Ondo State Ministry of Health Neglected Tropical Disease unit of the Department of Public Health held a stakeholders exit meeting primarily to disseminate their findings on the pilot of the Crowdsourced Image-Based Morbidity Hotspot Surveillance for Neglected Tropical Diseases (CIMS-NTDs) in Nigeria (Ondo State Pilot)
The Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Ministry of Health, Dr Adeniran Ikuomola lauded the initiative while saying it would help in easy diagnosis of Neglected Tropical Disease especially at the grassroots.
Ikuomola who was represented by the Director Planning Research and Statistics, Dr. Richard Adesoji appreciated the team from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri for counting Ondo State worthy to be one of the State for the pilot of the CIMS- NTDs while also urging Stakeholders in the meeting to make necessary contributions and corrections to the research work.
The State Coordinator, World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Dele David lauded the research work while saying WHO was ready to support any intervention work that would end NTDs in the world.
The representative of the Mission To Save The Helpless (MITOSATH), Mrs Bamiduro Janet said her organization had been supporting mass administration of drugs in Ondo State to fight NTDs and their efforts would help to achieve 2030 World Health Organization NTDs elimination goal.
The team lead, Prof Uche Chukwuocha in his presentation of their findings said the research work started in the State last year primarily to put the new method into practice while saying they would integrate the method into NTDs diagnosis in Ondo State.
He appreciated the partnership and support the team enjoyed in the last one year and sought for more collaboration for the support to integrate the CIMS-NTDs into diagnosis of NTDs in Ondo State