Public urged to sustain awareness of Guinea worm disease
The outgoing Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey, has called on Ghanaians to support community sensitisation programmes to create awareness of the Guinea worm disease in the country.
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According to her, efforts made by the government and its development partners have helped the country chalk up a “successful” campaign in the eradication of the disease, but concerted efforts by individuals will help in total eradication.
Currently, Ghana is awaiting certification from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare it as a Guinea-worm-free country since it has not recorded any incidence of the disease since 2010.
This “freedom” can only be obtained when a country has a strong surveillance system in place that can detect, contain and investigate any Guinea worm case or rumours within 24 hours.
This was contained in a speech read on the minister’s behalf by the Director of Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Health, Dr Afisah Zakariah, at the launch of the National Guinea Worm Week celebration in Accra.
The launch was geared towards bringing stakeholders together to commemorate the period of the absence of the disease in the country and to brainstorm measures to help the country attain certification for the absence of the disease.
This year’s celebration is on the theme, “The Final Push for Guinea Worm Certification in Ghana.”
Intricacies of disease
Speaking on some of the devastating effects of the disease, Ms Ayittey said Guinea worm was a debilitating disease that had affected school enrolment and food production and had caused pain among a number of Ghanaians.
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Having joined the global community over 25 years ago to eradicate the disease, Ms Ayittey stated that the country, although had reduced the incidence of the disease by more than half after five years, having registered surges of cases in the mid and late 1990’s.
“It was not only uncomfortable to hear us being compared with war-torn countries but an embarrassment to us as a nation who have always prided ourselves as flag bearers on the continent,” she added.
She indicated that the development prompted the government, the Ministry of Health and its development partners to double their efforts to eradicate the disease from the system, adding that since 2004, there had been a steady decline in new cases until the last case was reported in May 2010.
Reward
“The general public is being enjoined to look out for cases, and a cash reward of GH¢200 is available for anybody who finds and reports a suspected case of Guinea worm,” she said.
She, therefore, reiterated the government’s unflinching support to enhance the eradication process by making available funds and working closely with partners to ensure that field operations were embarked upon uninterrupted.
The National Programme Manager of the Ghana Guinea Worm Eradication Programme, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, said the essence of establishing the programme in Ghana in 1989 was to co-ordinate interventions to help eradicate the disease from the country.