India
achieves yet another public health milestone; becomes first
country to be declared free of Yaws, an
infection of the skin and bones, much ahead of WHO global target year of 2020.
India
has acknowledged as the first country in the world to become YAWS-free.
Union
Health Minister JP Nadda received an official citation from the World Health
Organisation and the UNICEF for Elimination of
Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus and for being YAWS-free on 14-07-2016.
YAWS
is a kind of bacterial infection that affects skin, bones and joints, while
tetanus, another bacterial infection, leads to muscle spasms that can be fatal.
An
official statement said, "India was validated for MNTE in April 2015, much
ahead of the global target date of December 2015." According to the WHO,
19 countries have still not reached the MNTE status.
The Union Health minister said that following the success of polio eradication programme, these achievements reflect the dedication of the country towards achievement of health equity and universal health coverage.
He added that this accomplishment is significant as India has achieved the milestone of being YAWS-free much before the WHO global target year of 2020.
The Union Health minister said that following the success of polio eradication programme, these achievements reflect the dedication of the country towards achievement of health equity and universal health coverage.
He added that this accomplishment is significant as India has achieved the milestone of being YAWS-free much before the WHO global target year of 2020.
Transmitted
by skin contact, the disease affects mostly children between the ages of five
and 15, and appears as multiple lesions which eat away at faces, arms and
hands, and deepen to the bones, disfiguring the child. Yaws is
closely linked to poverty and is part of a family of disabling disease that
affect the skin – along with leprosy – preventing children from attending
school and placing an undue economic burden on local communities.
In
May, WHO certified India yaws-free after a team of experts verified
interruption of disease transmission in the country. It is the first country
under the 2012 WHO neglected tropical diseases roadmap to eliminate yaws, a
disabling bacterial disease that results in severe disfigurement.
The
agency described maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination (MNTE) as a
“momentous public health feat,” as until a few decades ago the country reported
150,000 to 200,000 neonatal tetanus cases annually. Such tetanus cases are
reduced to less than one case per 1,000 live births in all its 675 districts.
According
to WHO, both yaws and maternal and neonatal tetanus eliminations were achieved
using the existing health system and health workforce. It noted sustained
political commitment and clear policies, unified strategies, close supervision
and monitoring, efforts of the frontline workers, and invaluable support of partners,
particularly for MNTE, as key factors for the achievement.
WHO
further noted that Indonesia was also validated for the elimination of maternal
and neonatal tetanus in May this year. With this, the agency said, the entire
South-East Asia Region has achieved elimination of maternal and neonatal
tetanus, becoming the second region, after European Region, to achieve the
feat.
Indonesia and
Timor-Leste are now the only remaining countries with yaws transmission in the
South-East Asia Region
