KEMRI will start a scientific research in Busia County, to ascertain why the jigger menace has persisted in the County, even though sustainable hygiene solutions have been found. KEMRI chairperson Dr. Lillian Apadet said they will use part of Sh224m set aside for general research to unravel the mystery behind the recurrence in Busia County.
“The research will take six months. It will also help us establish whether the potassium permanganate used to treat jigger victims has any side effects,” she said.
Dr. Apadet was speaking at Akites market in Teso South Sub County during the jigger treatment by The Mary Emaase Foundation. It was sponsored by Ahadi Kenya Trust and Lotto Foundations, and Busia County Government.
Ahadi Kenya CEO Stanley Kamau welcomed KEMRI’s proposal, saying no scientific research had been done ever on the jigger menace in the country.
However, Kamau whose organization also donated pairs of shoes and slippers to the jigger victims said the main cause of the persistent menace in the country was poverty.
He asked families with jigger victims who turned up for treatment to form a self-help group to enable him to avail starting capital for agricultural or livestock businesses they will opt to start.
Busia First Lady Judy ”Asere” Ojaamong appealed to First Lady Margaret Kenyatta to add a second mobile clinic to Busia County. “With seven sub-counties, one mobile clinic is not enough, thus I appeal to the First Lady through the Ahadi Kenya CEO to introduce a second mobile clinic in Busia,” she said.
Teso South MP Mary Emaase, whose Foundation was behind the medical camp, said it is promoting education and health and complimenting the work of the County Government under the leadership of Sospeter Ojaamong. She urged families in her constituency to maintain cleanliness.