Today, Monday 14, a team of medical experts deployed by the Lagos State government to Badagry area of the state will commence investigation into the causes of high prevalence of goitre in the area even as it will begin the free surgical operation of 48 residents with the disorder.
Goitre is an enlarged thyroid gland and may cause difficulty with swallowing, strenuous or noisy breathing even change in voice of sufferer.
Disclosing this, weekend, in Lagos, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, explained that the team, comprising surgeons and other medical experts, would immediately commence scientific survey with a view to finding the root causes of the neck-swelling disorder.
Idris hinted that before now, many of the affected residents erroneously thought they contracted the diseases because they did not use cup to drink, hence, majority of them within the age bracket of 30-59 years had been infected from the age of five.
The commissioner, who decried the alarming rate of the disorder in the area, pledged government’s determination to check the scourge.
He said: “It was unfortunate that many residents are ignorant about the diseases, majority of the affected patients have been battling with the disease for more than two decades.”
He explained that the state government discovered the 48 sufferers during its free health mission in Badagry recently.
He said: “Investigation was necessary for the state government to know the cause to forestall occurrence on the new generation in the area.
“The occurrence of this alarming number of neck swelling in an isolated region and because of the physical and financial burden to the local residents of referring these patients to its secondary and tertiary health care facilities, it became necessary to develop a comprehensive strategy that will offer an effective and holistic approach.”
On his part, the leader of the medical team, Professor Mobolaji Oludara, a consultant surgeon, lamented that most of the residents were ignorant who believed that sufferers contracted the disease known as Kojiji only when they did not use cup to drink.
Oludara added that preliminary findings by the experts revealed that most of the victims had iodine deficiency, assuring that surgeries on the affected residents would end the problem in the area.
