10 Years of Jigger Eradication 2007 Anti-Jigger 2008 Campaign Launched

10 Years of Jigger Eradication 2007 Anti-jigger 2008 Campaign launched. Journalists feted for Daily Nation 13-04-2007 highlighting the jigger menace. The Standard 02-04-2008 2009 US Missionaries join anti-jigger drive. Daily Nation 24-11-2009 2010 Anti-jigger campaign launched in Uganda. The Star 25-10-2010 2011 Big Brother Africa 2011 stars join the anti-jigger campaign in Kenya. The Star 24-10-2011 2012 Miss World 2011 Ivian Sarcos joins the anti-jigger campaign. 2013 The Star 09-01-2012 1st Lady, H.E. Margaret Kenyatta launches the shoe distribution campaign. Daily Nation 30-05-2013 2014 Dr Stanley Kamau recognised for efforts 2015 to eradicate jiggers. The Government launches The Standard 17-11-2014 the jigger awareness day and a policy on prevention and control. People Daily 05-03-2015 2016 Victoria Beckham congratulates Ahadi Kenya Trust for use of mobile ultra sound in the Ambulance Mashinani. 2017 Daily Nation 07-10-2016 Former jigger victims are rehabilitated after holding a mass wedding. Daily Nation 03-04-2017 Ahadi Kenya Trust - Celebrating 10 years sector who have also contributed towards Ahadi’s success; together we have made great “The Beyond Zero initiative progress. partnered with Ahadi Kenya Four years ago, we also launched the shoe Trust to expand health care distribution project under Ahadi Kenya Trust – to rural communities through this initiative was intended to benefit millions of school going children to prevent and control Ambulance Mashinani.” infestation and keep them in school. In 2015 the Government intensified its efforts to fight As we recognize 10 years of jigger eradication the condition through implementation of the efforts in Kenya, we reflect on the issues that National Policy Guidelines on Prevention have posed challenges and at the same time and Control of Jiggers and has built on this celebrate the great gains that have been made. momentum by launching the first ever national It also provides us with the opportunity to renew Jigger Awareness Day to be held every March our focus for the next 10 years. 3rd. All these initiatives address one reality— that to win our health battles the spirit of public- Ahadi Kenya Trust was set up to focus its efforts private partnerships must be embraced so that in jigger eradication across the country, and we together, we can find sustainable solutions to have worked together in this effort for ten years. eradicate diseases affecting our communities. There has been nothing predicable in the journey for those working as volunteers, participating in So, as we mark 10 years of the Ahadi jigger medical camps, or helping to rebuild homes for initiative, let us remember that the battle is not victims of the jigger menace. over yet. We must continue to commit resources, human capacity and compassion. We must find Recognizing that all health issues are and apply interventions that unlock people from interrelated, the Beyond Zero initiative partnered the vicious cycle of poverty and ill health and with Ahadi Kenya Trust to expand health care protect them from social discrimination. Let to rural communities through Ambulance H.E. Margaret Kenyatta us join hands to eradicate jigger infestation in Mashinani. I also take this opportunity to thank Kenya.” The First Lady of the Republic of Kenya all the other partners in the public and private Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health on Policy Direction for Jigger Prevention and Control “The Ministry of Health has to stigma associated with jiggers, hamper the victims’ participation in nation-building. prioritised the implementation of As such, jigger infestations frustrate Kenya’s the National Policy Guidelines on attempts to achieve the Sustainable Development Prevention and Control of Jigger Goal on poverty reduction, and as well reduce Infestations.” the pace of national development as envisioned in Kenya’s Vision 2030. However, lack of standardised approaches Jiggers (tungiasis) afflict four percent of the to prevention, control and treatment, and population in Kenya. Another 25 percent, the widespread use of harmful or ineffective mainly children, are at risk of infestation. methods, have led the Ministry to develop a Jiggers contribute to significant morbidity and policy to guide prevention and control efforts. sometimes mortality in endemic counties. Its The Ministry of Health has therefore prioritised complications are a leading cause of disability. the implementation of the National Policy School age children, the elderly and people Guidelines on Prevention and Control of Jigger with mental illness are particularly vulnerable. Infestations. Per capita socio-economic losses attributable to the disease have not been computed, but This policy framework is a good capacity building they are considerable. The school hours lost by and advocacy tool that the ministry and various children infested with jiggers due to inability to stakeholders can use for effective realisation of Dr. Cleopa Mailu, EBS. walk, the decreased agricultural productivity of a jigger-free Kenya. infested adults and the loss of social capital due Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health “In the coming financial year, we hope to conduct a comprehensive, nation-wide baseline survey of jigger infested people and households and their characteristics. The results of the study will help us to lay out better strategies and work plans for the control and eventual elimination of jiggers. It will also help identify areas mostly affected by jiggers and the conditions that render some households vulnerability to jiggers infestations.” Dr. Kepha Ombacho PhD, MBS, Director of Public Health 1 Ministry of Health We have kept the promise, 10 years on… eyes to the problems facing people who are The jiggers will suffocate, dry and fall off. jigger-infested. Those most affected are often In the last 10 years, Ahadi Kenya Trust has at the bottom of the poverty line. They suffer carried out various prevention interventions. isolation, rejection and physical disabilities. A major one has involved educating children Previously, these people believed that jigger- in school, as well as communities, on good infestation was as a result of witchcraft. hygiene. We have also trained social workers Therefore, they didn’t bother to go to hospital. and caregivers in communities. Wearing Instead, they shared pins to remove jiggers. shoes is very key in fighting jiggers. We want to ensure that all children in Kenya have their This practice put them at the risk of contracting feet covered. tetanus and other infections. Many children feared removing jiggers because the piercing Ahadi Kenya Trust has launched Ambulance was painful. Mashinani. For many years, these people suffered social The mobile project has enabled jigger-infested exclusion and stigma. The school drop-out expectant mothers to access health care. rate of children with jiggers was at 10 percent. We have also introduced portable ultra-sound Dr. Stanley Kamau, HSC Such children dropped out of school because scanners, with which we test mothers at the Ahadi Kenya Trust - Executive Founder/CEO they could not walk properly, had no shoes and comfort of their homes. were ridiculed. This consistency in prevention and control will “I am happy that Kenyans in Many men and women could not tend to their see us eradicate jiggers in Kenya by 2030. As farms because of the jigger wounds. Others we head there, we are planning to establish general, the government and had no confidence to fully participate in the a museum of first-hand information about other partners have joined the civic space. Because of deformed or wounded jiggers, since they will be extinct in the next campaign. With the government fingers, they avoided events that would require few years. This will inform future generations rd taking of fingerprints, such as obtaining identity of Kenyans about the phenomenon. setting aside March 3 as the cards, voting and so on. Even worse, expectant But it is the creation of livelihoods that women would avoid ante-natal clinics because National Jigger Awareness Day.” will fight jigger infestation the most. Going of poor mobility and isolation. forward, our focus will be on eradication of These communities suffered in silence. They poverty by revamping our livelihood projects Today marks a very important milestone for did not know that jiggers were a medical in agribusiness. As families earn more, they Ahadi Kenya Trust. The anti-jigger campaign problem. Hospitals too, had never treated afford better hygiene, decent housing and high celebrates its 10th birthday, and has grown jiggers. Teachers saw it normal that students sanitation standards, keeping off jiggers. beyond Kenya’s borders, hugely impacting could have jiggers. societies. They will be healthier and in better positions to Today, I am happy that Kenyans in general, the invest more in the education of their children. It has been an amazing journey. My initial government and other partners have joined the I attribute all these successes that we celebrate goal was to give back to community, in aid of campaign. With the government setting aside today to the Kenyan people and our partners. some four families in my home village. Little March 3rd as the National Jigger Awareness To quote from my book, A Jiggered Mind: did I know that jiggers were a widespread Day, what more could we ask for? problem. More people came asking for help. This expanded the reach of the campaign, Another shot in the arm for the campaign is “We don’t give because we have and inspired Ahadi Kenya Trust to convert its the move by the Ministry of Health to issue excess. We give because we have programmes into an NGO. policy guidelines on prevention and control of jigger infestation. Presently, anybody can walk access.” The anti-jigger campaign has since spread into any hospital and be treated for jiggers.

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