Firm, IHS Nigeria Partner to Tackle Endemic Diseases in Ekiti

Oluchi Chibuzor
The END Fund, a private philanthropic initiative solely dedicated to ending the five most common neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), has announced its partnership with IHS Nigeria, a telecom infrastructure service provider company, to tackle NTDs in Ekiti State.

It said the planned donation from IHS Nigeria would enable it deliver thousands of treatments to those most affected by Onchocerciasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis; reducing the suffering, disability and poor health caused by these diseases, and significantly improving the quality of life of the recipients.

The END Fund announced its partnership with IHS Nigeria on the occasion of its multi-stakeholder webinar being hosted under the aegis of its African NTD Leadership Initiative on June 01, 2021.
Critical stakeholders who are committed to building and expanding a sustainable and locally driven movement to end NTDs in Africa supported the event.

“The END Fund is delighted to collaborate with IHS Nigeria, in tackling these diseases that cause cognitive impairment, physical ailments, social isolation, and economic regression.
“Through the financial commitment of this partner, we will make good strides in reducing the burden for these diseases in Ekiti state.

“This is in support of the state government’s drive to enable a healthier populace, and also feeds into the national framework for supporting the sustainable progress of Nigeria, especially in the areas of health and economic advancement. In addition, tackling the NTDs is directly correlated to attainment of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 on good health and wellbeing; while contributing to meeting other SDGs, including SDGs 1 and 2 – alleviating poverty and hunger respectively, and SDG 4 – enabling people to pursue an education,” the Director of Public Affairs, at the END Fund, Oyetola Oduyemi said.
Speaking at the multi-stakeholder webinar, and taking the opportunity to announce the partnership between the END Fund and IHS Nigeria, the Chief Corporate Services Officer, IHS Nigeria, Dapo Otunla, said, “Today we are pleased to take this significant step in collaborating with the END Fund to tackle these debilitating diseases.”