Guinea worm disease – a chance for successful eradication in the Volta region, Ghana

A guinea worm eradication program in two farming communities in the Akatsi District in the Volta region of Ghana was initially threatened by failure to apply simple preventive practices. Persistent monitoring and education on the use of locally supplied, inexpensive materials for water filtration ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 1998-08, Vol.47 (3), p.405-410
Main Authors: Diamenu, Stanley K, Nyaku, Albertha A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Developing countries
Disease
Diseases
Diseases caused by nematodes
Dracontiasis
Dracunculiasis
Dracunculiasis - epidemiology
Dracunculiasis - prevention & control
Dracunculosis
Drinking water
Epidemiologic Methods
Filariases
Ghana
Ghana - epidemiology
guinea worm
guinea worm Dracunculiasis KAP water management Ghana
Health Education
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Promotion
Helminthic diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
KAP
Medical sciences
Parasitic diseases
Prevention
Public health
Rural areas
Tropical medicine
Water management
Water Purification
Water supplies
Water treatment
Worms
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Summary:A guinea worm eradication program in two farming communities in the Akatsi District in the Volta region of Ghana was initially threatened by failure to apply simple preventive practices. Persistent monitoring and education on the use of locally supplied, inexpensive materials for water filtration has turned the program around. In March 1996, the Volta rural water supply and sanitation (VRWSS) project commissioned a guinea worm prevalence and knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study to collect baseline prevalence data. This study revealed some of the factors that contributed to the persistent high prevalence of guinea worm in the two communities. The community's only source of potable drinking water was irrigation dams which also served as the source of guinea worm infection. The last quarterly report stated that guinea worm cases had been reduced from 62 to 5 in the two communities. Lessons learnt from Avega and Avevi will be extended to other guinea worm endemic communities that have registered with the project in the region. The prospect of total eradication of guinea worm in the region now exists.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/S0277-9536(98)00028-8