Person with elephantiasis
The
Ghana Health Service (GHS) through the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) programme
will from today begin the mass administration of anti-lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis)
and river blindness (onchocerciasis) drugs across 126 endemic districts in the
country.
In
all, 15 districts have been targeted for elephantiasis, 120 districts for river
blindness and nine districts in co-endemic areas will be covered in the 12-day
programme.
The
Mass Drug Administration (MDA) will be done in mainly remote rural areas as
well as urban slums where the diseases, which are severely debilitating, are
widespread.
The
yearly outreach programme is to help control and eliminate NTDs including
elephantiasis and river blindness, by breaking the transmission in the endemic districts.
Ag
Director General of GHS, Dr. Patrick Aboagye, in his welcome address, said
Ghana has, through strategies like mass drug administration and health
education, broken the transmission of lymphatic disease in 83 out of the 98
endemic districts.
He,
however, noted that based on the findings of a recent assessment of river
blindness situation in the country, more districts would have to receive the
MDA thus increasing the number of districts in this year’s exercise.
“What
it means is that all hands must be on deck to respond to the upscaling of onchocerciasis
endemicity. Collaboration with agencies and stakeholders must be intensified,”
he said.
Addressing
the media during a press engagement on the mass drug administration, Dr.
Benjamin Marfo, NTDs Programmes Manager, said river blindness is caused by the
parasitic worm, onchocerca volvulus,
transmitted by the vector called black fly which breeds in fast flowing rivers.
“It
is the second leading cause of avoidable blindness globally. The parasite lives
in the skin causing intense itching, changes in skin texture including
thickening and darkening,” he said.
Dr.
Marfo said the disease could be treated effectively by taking ivermectin tablets annually. He,
therefore, urged the public to participate in the exercise.
He
said the female anopheles mosquito transmits the parasitic worm, wuchereria bancrofti, which causes elephantiasis.
The parasite lives in the lymphatic system, a network of blood vessel-like
structures in the blood that helps with immunity and performs the important
function of collecting and returning excess fluid to the blood.
“When
the lymphatic system is damaged, excess body fluid accumulates in the limbs,
scrotum and the breasts. National treatment started in 2001 and as of 2016, 83
districts had successfully reduced the disease to levels low enough to stop
treatment,” he stated.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
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