The Ministry of Health and county health departments have been advised to include female genital schistosomiasis disease in reproductive health to ensure that patients suffering from the disease receive proper treatment.
This comes after a study conducted in various hospitals and clinics in Kilifi County by LVCT, a non-governmental organization, found that 320 out of two thousand women tested were suffering from the disease and received treatment for sexually transmitted diseases due to its symptoms, even though the disease is not sexually transmitted.
Speaking in Kilifi during the launch of the study findings, Dr Robinson Karuga from the LVCT organization said the research further revealed that 16 percent of the women tested were found to have female genital schistosomiasis caused by aquatic parasites produced by snails. "In Kilifi County, we tested over two thousand women using pelvic examination, and 16 percent of those tested were found to have contracted bilharzia and female genital schistosomiasis, and for a long time, the FGS symptoms were misdiagnosed as Sexually Transmitted Diseases," Karuga said. In addition, a senior researcher at the organization, Stephen Mulupi, has pointed out that inappropriate treatment for female genital schistosomiasis may compromise the body's immune system due to the body's adaptation to antibiotics.
Mulupi has also added that the integration of health services is one of the best measures to address financial implications that are brought up by the rise in diseases, especially with the recent withdrawal of funding from the USA-based organizations. "We advise that female genital schistosomiasis be embedded with treatment programs on reproductive health to avoid any extra costs and as the national government, through the ministry of health makes policies on the same let there be proper coordination with the 47 county governments to ensure proper implementation of the said policies on female genital schistosomiasis." He said.
