Schistosomiasis (bilharzia, parasitic worms): About 400,000 Rwandans were infected with bilharzia in 2001 and another 4 million were at risk, WHO says. Intervention involves prevention education and medicine for high-risk populations yearly, then every two years after prevalence falls below 30 percent.
Lymphatic filiarsis (elephantiasis): This disease "puts at risk more than a billion people in more than 80 countries," says New York based Medilinks. Intervention includes administering drugs annually, using insecticide-treated nets, providing hygiene education and exercising affected limbs.
Onchocerciasis (river blindness): "A total of 18 million people are infected with the disease, of whom 99 percent are in Africa," WHO reports. Funding will help reduce new infections and treat infected people through annual administration of medicine.
Soil-transmitted helminths (worms): Intestinal helminths were the third-leading cause of death in Rwanda, according to a 1999 Ministry of Health report. Administering medicine and providing prevention education will reduce prevalence in school age children to less than 10 percent.
Trachoma: A top cause of preventable blindness, trachoma has left 8 million people visually impaired, according to New York based International Trachoma Initiative. Interventions will include annual administration of drugs and implementation of the SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial hygiene and Environmental cleanliness) strategy.
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