E/R: Disease Control Unit reports neglected cases of Leprosy, Buruli ulcer, Yaws, elephantiasis

The Disease Control Unit of the Suhum Municipal Health Directorate in Ghana's Eastern region has reported a high number of cases of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as Leprosy, Buruli ulcer and Yaws.

The Suhum Municipal Disease Control Officer, Kwadwo Agyenim Boateng, revealed during the launching of Partnership for Elimination of Skin-Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that they encounter these cases daily, including isolated cases of elephantiasis and other NTDs.

“When we talk of NTDs in Suhum this is one situation we also face on daily basis as a public health unit because we have cases of leprosy we attend to, we have cases of Yaws in some rural communities and we have isolated cases of buruli ulcer, elephantiasis and all the other diseases we can talk about,” he said.

At the launch, Boateng expressed hope that the initiative would help create awareness and improve efforts to identify more cases.

He said, “I believe this project that is running for two years in our municipality will go a long way to augment our routine effort to the control of NTDs in the Suhum municipality. They are not having the right information regarding the condition. They also fear perceive how health staff are going to receive them, some for medical cost reasons and some of them looking at where they are looking at transportation and geographical access if you don’t make the effort of meeting them they will never show up.so In our case identifying skin-NTDs requires an extra effort from the health staff or directorate.”

However, Ghana is facing financial challenges to raise awareness, identify and treat NTDs, and stigma and misconceptions surrounding the diseases lead to many cases going undetected.

“These four conditions which we are talking about are prevalent in the region.We looked for support and lo and behold ark foundation is here to support us. We are not seeing the cases at the early stages that we expect to see them so by the time we see them the deformities will show up and then the people are neglected. Stigma is attached and so when we have a foundation like this to help us it means we can look for the people and stop the stigma and stop the disabilities. People think Leprosy, Buruli, Ulcer yaws, and lymphatic filariasis is a spiritual thing. They think that if you get it someone is bewitching you and that kind of thing,” Christian Fiador said.

The Partnership for Elimination of Skin-NTDs program, funded by the Anesvad Foundation and implemented by the Ark Development Organization, aims to eliminate Buruli Ulcer, Leprosy, Yaws, and Lymphatic Filiriasis in Upper Manya Krobo, Suhum, Fanteakwa North, and West Akim districts through multifaceted interventions, including treatment and socio-economic support.

Some members of the community, along with nurses and other stakeholders, have been trained to identify more hidden cases of skin-NTDs in the communities.