Educating children on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) will help eliminate the diseases in the country, as 1.4m children are being targeted for sensitisation, Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker has said.

Dr. Coker disclosed this in Abeokuta at a Quiz Competition organised for school children across the State in commemoration of the 2022 NTDs Day, describing school-age children as agents of change needed in the fight against the diseases.

The Commissioner, represented by the Director, Public Health, Ministry of Health, Dr. Festus Soyinka, said the diseases have a negative socio-economic impact on the less privileged, especially those in the rural areas due to lack of awareness and low mortality associated with them.

"Children are the vanguard for spreading key information and agents of change in the community. If we are able to reach a child, who comes from a family of at least three individuals, then our message will get to their homes. Getting that child's attention regarding NTDs is like catching an entire family", she said.

Coker added that the government would not renege efforts at providing enlightenment on the diseases, calling on stakeholders in the health sector to put in place more measures, towards eradicating NTDs in the State.

The Commissioner said the present administration had continually carried out its annual school-based deworming programme aimed at ensuring at least 80 percent of pupils and students are free of worms and not vulnerable to NTDs, saying the quiz competition if sustained, would scale up enlightenment in the community.

In her goodwill message, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Abosede Ogunleye assured of collaboration between her Ministry and the Ministry of Health on health issues that affect school-age children in the State.

On his part, the Consultant, United Nations International Children Emergency Fund on Water and Sanitation (WASH), Dr. Bisi Orebiyi, said getting the right health and wellness messages across to children at a tender age would have a great impact on achieving positive outcomes of public health concerns in the future.

Highlight of the event was a quiz competition for 10 selected secondary schools where Remo Divisional High School clinched the first position, while Sanni Luba College, Ijebu-Ode, and Abeokuta Grammar School came second and third.