The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Kampala Capital City Authority, started fumigating households in Kamwokya on Thursday.
The 10 village exercise was started at TLC Church ahead of the commemoration of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Uganda.
The leaders and residents of the area indicated that they were plagued by the bedbugs.
“There are a lot of bed bugs in Kamwoka. Some women left their marriage because of the bedbugs, ”said Charles Ssekatale, chairman of youth in the church zone.
He revealed that gatherings in public areas and the use of public transport made it easy for bedbugs to multiply.
“The youngsters like to watch films in cinemas and it is very easy to get the bugs from there. Even when you’re in the taxi, there are bugs and when you bring them home they multiply at the highest level, ”he explained.
He said efforts were made to clean bed bugs a few years ago after a group of people from an organization came to fumigate them, but the measure didn’t do much.
“When they came to fumigate, it was as if they had given them food to grow and reproduce. We hope these chemicals work this time, ”he said.
On this occasion, Dr. Alfred Mubanginzi, the Deputy Commissioner for Vector-borne Diseases at the Ministry of Health, told Hon Eveline Anite, Minister of State for Finance and Investment for Privatization, to visit this community ahead of last year’s elections and complain about bedbugs among leaders. The Ministry of Health has been informed and investigations have been carried out to assist the community.
He explained that while bedbugs are not disease-causing vectors, they do cause a lot of discomfort.
“Bedbugs don’t cause disease. However, they suck blood from people and cause torture both mentally and physiologically, ”he said.
He revealed that the chemicals used include organophosphates and parathyroid glands, which are a cable used to kill bedbugs.
He went on to say that this is part of the activity to commemorate World Neglected Tropical Disease Day (NTDs), which will be held on January 30, 2021.
“We are trying to raise awareness of neglected tropical diseases and also to support those who have suffered from them because most of our patients have suffered from stigma and discrimination,” he said.
NTDs include schistosomiasis, trachoma, and sleeping sickness, among others.
In the same way, larvicide was carried out in the water-protected trenches to reduce mosquitos in the area.
