Over 3 mln people threatened by trypanosomiasis

Over 3 million people living along Guinea's coastline are threatened with trypanosomiasis or the "sleeping sickness," the country's Public Health Minister Edouard Gnakoye Lamah said on Tuesday. This disease which is common in intertropical zones, constitutes a real threat to the public health in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in coastal countries like Guinea, Gambia and Liberia. The representatives of these different countries met on Tuesday in Conakry to discuss the various strategies of fighting against the sleeping sickness disease, give an assessment of the prevailing situation and present prospects in terms of the new strategies for eliminating the disease. The Guinean public health minister said his country remains the most affected by the disease, with the re-emergence of the disease in areas that were initially affected and its appearance in new health zones, especially along the coastal region. Transmitted to humans or animals through the tsetse fly, the disease is common among the poor families that live in mangroves or along the river banks. It can lead to paralysis or mental disorder. In 2002, the Guinean government put in place a team within the health ministry to coordinate interventions on the ground and come up with the strategies to fight against trypanosomiasis.