Chairperson of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mostafa Sannallah, confirmed the organization’s readiness to join forces in combating leishmaniasis in Sabrata by supplying the municipality with lethal insecticides for the carrier flies.
This came during a meeting with the Head of Sabrata Municipality, Meftah al-Brishni, and the Director General of Cardiac Surgery Center in Sabrata, Bashir Abu Qasim, at the headquarters of the NOC in Tripoli, on Saturday.
The number of cases diagnosed with leishmaniasis across Libya has increased to 5,000 people until the end of January, Director General of the National Center for Disease Control Badr al-Din Najjar said in a previous statement.
According to the World Health Organization, leishmaniasis is caused by a protozoa parasite in more than 20 leishmania species. Over 90 sandfly species are known to transmit leishmania parasites.
The UN health agency estimates that there are 700,000 to 1 million new cases and 20,000 to 30,000 deaths annually.
The healthcare sector in Libya has been suffering from a near-total collapse over the past few years because of the lack of government funds, while most foreign medical personnel had to flee the country under the deteriorating security conditions.
