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Elephantiasis still prevalent in eight districts… efforts are made to contain it – Experts
Over 120 million people are infected with Elephantiasis, according to WHO
What started as a painful pinch on the leg of Madam AkuaAbokumaa, 20 years ago has now become a bigger swelling, despite numerous efforts to ease the bulge and the throbbing pain associated with it.
The 69-year-old woman is virtually immobile.
Pain is etched on her face as she struggles to walk around the mud houses in her remote village at Asemko, in the West Ahanta Municipal Assembly close to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in the Western Region.
She is among over 120 million people who are infected and 40 million who are disfigured or incapacitated by microscopic larvae and microfilariae, which are transmitted to humans through mosquito bites, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Madam Abokumaa said she had spent thousands of cedis generated from her small subsistence farming to visit hospitals and traditional healers in an attempt to treat the deadly sickness.
But the situation keeps getting worse.
Narrating her sad story to this reporter, she said that most of the traditional healers she visited,after taking money from her as consultation fees, told her that she had been bewitched.
Madam Abokumaa accused some of the healers of making the swelling worse, after making cuts on the leg with a razor blade and covering them with white powder.
She said the treatment rather caused more acute infections that spread to her entire body leaving her bed-bound and feverish.
“I have lost so much and even sold properties to pay the healers, or to get a taxi to the hospital when the pain is unbearable. Now it’s getting worse and my other leg is becoming swollen. It sometimes feels like I might just die,” she said.
Another person suffering a similar fate is 56-year-old John Asmah, who developed the early stages of elephantiasis as an infant. The father of six can no longer work and struggles to pay her children’s secondary school fees, let alone medical bills.
According to him, the loneliness had wanedhis confidence. His family abandoned him when the swelling started in because they saw him as a disabled person.
“I sometimes feel like I’m the only one with this problem, people walking by always laugh at me. Sometimes when I meet a group of people, they just stand there staring at my leg, asking if I’m cursed,” he said.
MrBright Alomatu, the Desk Officer for Lymphatic Filariasis and a biologist of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme (NTDP) of Ghana in an interview said:“Lymphatic filariasis (LF), commonly known as elephantiasis, is a disabling and disfiguring disease where the lymph vessels and nodes are damaged by mosquito parasites and may result in massive lymphoedema.”
He said it was a widespread and major public health problem in many developing countries with warm and humid climates, including Ghana.
He said with the implementation of the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) with various support, significant progress had been made towards the elimination of the disease as a public health problem.
He said that out of the 114 hotspot districts, 106 had been contained leaving eight districts namely; Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and Bole in the Savannah Region, Ellembelle in the Western Region, Sunyani West in the Bono Region, Lawra, Wa East and West in Upper West Region and Nabdam in the Upper East Region.
“Those affected with symptoms are left with strangely swilling deformed limbs which had been as a result of several years without treatment, he said.
According to Dr Sylvester Coleman, an entomologist and a lecturer at the Department of Clinical Microbiology of the Kwame NkrumahUniversity of Science and Technology, “elephantiasis is a severe manifestation of lymphatic filariasis, a disease which could also trigger extensive scrotal swelling, or hydrocele, in men.”
It is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and is endemic in 73 countries.
He said the infection was transmitted by mosquitoes carrying tiny, thread-like worms, which nest in and attack a person’s lymphatic system, though many of those infected with the parasite will not present any symptoms.
He warned patients against the use of herbs for treating elephantiasis as well as seeking treatment from traditional healers, but rather visit the nearest health centres.
From Geoffrey Buta, Asemko
News
NPP condems arrest of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned the arrest and detention of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah by operatives of the National Security.
In a statement signed by the General Secretary, Justin Kodua noted that “This unlawful action by the marauding operatives of the National Security is the latest installment of the ongoing series of state-sponsored attacks on the media by the NDC government, in their desperate attempt to silence the media and curtail press freedom.”
According to the him, “The Party condemns in no uncertain terms this state-sponsored lawlessness and commends the many well-meaning Ghanaians who spoke loudly against this shameful conduct by the National Security. We also commend the young people and the team of lawyers who stormed the National Security Secretariat this evening to see to the release of the abducted journalist.”
“The NPP wishes to remind President Mahama and his government that the Ghana that was bequeathed to them on January 7, 2025, was a free country. It was the bastion of democracy, underpinned not only by the existence of functioning democratic institutions but also by our unflinching commitment to upholding press freedom as enshrined in Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution,” they added.
Read the full statement below
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 19, 2025
*NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONDEMNS THE UNLAWFUL ARREST OF VETERAN JOURNALIST, OKATAKYIE AFRIFA MENSAH BY NATIONAL SECURITY OPERATIVES*
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) condemns the unlawful arrest and detention by operatives of the National Security, of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah, a veteran journalist, who has been critical of the John Mahama administration.
This unlawful action by the marauding operatives of the National Security is the latest installment of the ongoing series of state-sponsored attacks on the media by the NDC government, in their desperate attempt to silence the media and curtail press freedom.
The Party condemns in no uncertain terms this state-sponsored lawlessness and commends the many well-meaning Ghanaians who spoke loudly against this shameful conduct by the National Security. We also commend the young people and the team of lawyers who stormed the National Security Secretariat this evening to see to the release of the abducted journalist.
The NPP wishes to remind President Mahama and his government that the Ghana that was bequeathed to them on January 7, 2025, was a free country. It was the bastion of democracy, underpinned not only by the existence of functioning democratic institutions but also by our unflinching commitment to upholding press freedom as enshrined in Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution.
In line with this commitment, the country also went through the painstaking process of repealing the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law in 2001, a process that was spearheaded by the immediate past President, H.E Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, who was then the Attorney General of the Republic.
It is therefore completely repugnant and unacceptable for the John Mahama administration to be using State Security to intimidate political opponents as well as media personnel in a bid to silence all critical voices This, in fact, is an egregious affront to our democratic and constitutional tenets.
We call on the Ghana Journalist Association, the Media Foundation of West Africa, Civil Society Organizations, and all stakeholders to join us in demanding an immediate cessation of this tyranny and growing culture of state-sponsored attacks on the media.
Enough is enough.
…Signed…
JUSTIN KODUA FRIMPONG
GENERAL SECRETARY
News
We have built enough buffers to pay all DDEP obligations – Finance Minister Ato Forson
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has assured banks that the government has built sufficient financial buffers to meet all Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) obligations this year.
Speaking at a high-level meeting with over 22 Managing Directors of banks, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and restoring confidence in the financial sector.
“We do not intend to default,” Dr. Forson declared.
“All outstanding holdouts have been paid, and we have put in place the necessary buffers to ensure that every single DDEP obligation for this year will be met.”
The Minister explained that these buffers were created through fiscal discipline, strategic investment cuts, and prudent resource allocation.
As part of this approach, the government has reset goods and services expenditure to 2023 levels and is working to achieve a primary surplus of 1.5% to sustain economic stability.
He also announced plans to submit a fiscal responsibility rule to Parliament, which will set a debt ceiling that the Ministry of Finance cannot exceed.
This measure aims to prevent excessive borrowing and reinforce financial discipline.
Beyond ensuring timely DDEP payments, Dr Forson revealed that the government is taking deliberate steps to reduce reliance on the Treasury bill market.
By improving coordination between fiscal and monetary policies, the government aims to stabilize interest rates and ease liquidity pressures on the banking sector.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
