Health Ministry Begins Pilot Programme To Eradicate Bilharzia

Zebilla (U/E) The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the Upper East has begun a three-year pilot programme to eradicate Bilharzia from the Bawku West district. The disease has become rampant in the area following the construction of a number of dams by IFAD to facilitate farming in the dry season. The programme is estimated to cost 88 million cedis. This includes cost of drugs, chemicals, and the training of community-based health educators. Addressing the district assembly at its second ordinary session at Zebilla, the Senior Medical Officer in charge of Public Health in the region, Dr Joseph Amankwaah, said a survey conducted in the district showed that 50 per cent of school children have bilharzia and most people living around the dams are infected. Dr Amankwaah said household registers would be opened and people between the ages of five and 26 years would be treated while community members would be taught to apply chemicals in the dams to kill the vector snails. Gri