Seek immediate medical care for skin conditions — Dr Joseph Opare

The Programme Manager of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), Dr Joseph Larbi Opare, has advised Ghanaians to seek immediate medical care whenever they experience any skin condition.

Such conditions include rashes, itchy skins or depigmentation.

Speaking on the sidelines of a symposium organised by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) to mark the World NTDs day today, Dr Opare explained that most NTDs started with skin infection, therefore, when they reported early at the hospital and the specific condition was diagnosed to be NTDs, it could be treated from the onset.

He said often, people attributed NTDs to so much spiritism, especially with elephantiasis, hence reported late to the hospital only when the condition got worse.

"Neglected Tropical Diseases are preventable and also treatable.

So, you shouldn't stay in the house. Just come and let's see what is happening to your body because the diseases have different stages, and maybe we can block it at the very onset with some medicines or advice," he said.

NTDs

NTDs are a group of 21 preventable and treatable diseases which occur under conditions of poverty, induces stigma and mainly found in tropical and sub-tropical countries.

The audience at the event.

They include onchocerciasis (river blindness); schistosomiasis, Soil Transmitted Helminths, onchocerciasis, worm infestation, leprosy, Yaws and Buruli Ulcer.

NTDs affect about 1.5 billion people worldwide with 40 per cent of cases from Africa.

Ghana is endemic for 14 NTDs with every district having at least two NTDs.

NTDs disfigure and disable, keep children out of school and parents out of work and thus perpetuate the cycle of poverty.

Mass drug administration

Dr Opare further advised Ghanaians to get themselves involved whenever they heard of mass drug administration exercise by the Ghana Health Service, and for communities to help them with volunteers when they came to them to share medicines.

For those with any of the NTDs, he encouraged them not to stay at home but rather, visit the hospital for the necessary support.

Earlier in his presentation on the state of NTDs in Ghana, Dr Opare said Ghana successfully eliminated trachoma in 2018, Human African Trypanosomiasis, otherwise known as sleeping sickness, in 2023; and in 2015, the country was certified free of guinea worm.

He said cases of Buruli Ulcer had gone down drastically and was hopeful that by 2030, there would not be any case of the disease, adding that the prevalence of schistosomiasis and worm infestation had also gone down.

Dr Opare said it was NTDs vision, goal and mission to ensure a reduction in the prevalence of NTDs in the country to a level that was no longer a public health importance by 2030.

NMIMR

The Director of NMIMR, Professor Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, said the institute had been very active in the area of NTDs where it had achieved a lot in terms of research together with the Ghana Health Service.

“We are proud of what we are doing and we will continue to do to support various global health programmes, including NTDs,” she said.

The Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Professor Alfred Edwin Yawson, said NTDs contributed significantly to intergenerational poverty, adding that it hindered eductional development and also weakened the local economy of communities as well as the national economy.

A research fellow of NMIMR, Professor Dziedzom Komi de Souza, touching on the economic loss of NTDs, said millions were lost annually due to reduced productivity and healthcare cost of NTDs.