24th November 2008. The Minister of State for Health Dr Emmanuel Otaala has called for strong cross-border surveillance for Guinea Worm disease saying it is one of the sure ways to eradicate the diseases. Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Inter-regional meeting for Guinea Warm eradication programmes held at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Dr Otaala said that “we cannot achieve eradication working as individual countries – we need to work as a group.”

Dr Otaala pointed out that all the countries in the regional have porous borders making it easy to import cases from each other. He particularly urged participants to help The Sudan which still has a heavy case load compared to other countries to move towards eradication as well. 

According to Dr Otaala, there is urgent need to develop a joint plan with specific emphasis on surveillance, detection and contained which countries in the region must implement in a robust manager so as to bring about quick results. 

Speaking at the same function the WHO Representative for Uganda Dr Joaquim Saweka cautioned countries against complacency noting that “with the free movement of people across borders, the threat of re-introduction of the disease still exists.” He thus called for strengthened community based disease surveillance linked to the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response programme to ensure reporting and investigation of all rumours, detection and containment of indigenous or imported cases. Dr Saweka particularly urged participants to undertake joint cross border surveillance activities for Guinea Worm. 

On Uganda’s efforts to eradicate the Guinea Worm Dr Saweka cautioned that even though the last indigenous case was reported in 2003, the funding and material support to Guinea Worm Eradication programme should be sustained to ensure that supervision and high quality surveillance activities are maintained. He pointed that the reward system should be kept in addition to keeping emergency stocks of water filters for quick response in case of re-introduction especially as the disease is still highly endemic in neighbouring Southern Sudan. 

Dr Saweka emphasized the importance of maintaining high quality surveillance until certification of eradication adding that this requires good documentation of what is done and excellent record keeping. 

On safe water sources Dr Saweka lamented the poor maintenance of water supply equipment installed in the context of the programme which has led many people to revert to potentially contaminated sources - a fertile ground for re-introduction of the disease. He thus called upon district local governments to accord high priority to safe water sources in close collaboration with UNICEF that has been very supportive in this area. Dr Saweka assured participants of WHO’s readiness to work with all partners to ensure eradication of Guinea Worm in the region. 

Participants in the meeting were from Kenya, The Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and WHO country, regional and headquarter offices. They reviewed the epidemiological situation of the eradication and pre-certification efforts during 2008 and the implementation of appropriate surveillance and other interventions necessary certification. They explored possibilities for cross-border joint surveillance activities, reviewed status of implementation of the 2007 recommendations activities for guinea-worm eradication for 2008. They also looked into the financial needs for 2009.