Fiji will be one of the first countries in the world to roll out a national scabies elimination program which will be a model for other countries.
A recent survey in Fiji has revealed that approximately one in every five children has scabies.
A joint research by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the Kirby Institute at University of New South Wales in Sydney and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services revealed that scabies infection rates were high in many Pacific nations, with 50 percent of children having scabies.
MCRI’s Professor Andrew Steer says their research showed that the most effective way to wipe out scabies was to treat whole communities.
Furthermore, the joint research has proven that the number of people with scabies in a community can be reduced by more than 90 percent with a single community wide treatment of ivermectin.
Tamavua/Twomey Hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr Mike Kama described scabies as impacting quality of life, affecting sleep times, and affecting school and work attendances.
The only exceptions are pregnant women and children under five, who will be given an alternative skin-cream treatment and the rights of children to health under the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and the 2013 Fijian Constitution cannot be fulfilled unless we eliminate scabies as a public health problem in Fiji.
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