GHS begins mass drug administration against river blindness, elephantiasis
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has commenced a mass drug administration (MDA) against onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) in endemic districts across the country.
The exercise, which began on Monday and ends on July 26, forms part of national efforts to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) as a public health threat by 2030.
While 77 districts across the 16 regions endemic for onchocerciasis are being targeted, to reach at least 5.8 million people with prescribed medications, three districts in three regions where elephantiasis is prevalent will be covered under the MDA, covering 440,000 people in the exercise.
The Director General, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, making the announcement at a news conference, explained that all persons above five years, except pregnant women, were eligible to receive the drugs.
He indicated that officials from the GHS would move from households to households to administer drugs to target individuals, urging resident to avail themselves for the MDA.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye said river blindness was endemic in 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, hence the initiation of MDA since 1997.
He said the main strategy for the control and elimination of river blindness was the interruption of causative agent of transmission through the annual MDA using Ivermectin drugs.
“Although considerable progress has been made in the control of onchocerciasis, there is still an enormous task ahead to achieve the global target of elimination by 2030,” he said.
The Director of Public Health, Dr Franklin Aseidu- Bekoe, explained that elephantiasis occurred when filarial parasites were transmitted to humans through infected mosquitoes, often occurring in childhood and leading to a hidden damage of the lymphatic system.
He indicated that the elephantiasis was endemic in 116 districts across the country although transmission of the infection had been interrupted in 109 districts.
“The painful and profoundly disfiguring visible manifestations of the disease-lymphoedema, elephantiasis and scrotal swelling occur later in life and these patients are not only physically disabled, but suffer mental, social and financial losses, contributing to stigma and poverty,” he added.
Caused by a parasitic worm called Onchocerca volvulus, human onchocerciasis is a disease of the skin and eye spread through repeated bites of an infected blackfly known scientifically as Simulium.
Onchocerciasis is also called river blindness because the blackfly that transmits the infection breeds in rapidly flowing rivers and streams and causes blindness, making people living in the enclave of such water bodies more vulnerable to the disease.
People with heavy infections usually develop conditions such as unrelenting itching, unsightly skin disease, nodules under the skin, or eye disease which results in severe visual impairment and blindness.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
