WORKSHOP ON BURULI ULCER (PAGE 43)

A FIVE-DAY training programme on early detection and reporting of Buruli ulcer has been held for focal persons in Amansie Central District, one of the most endemic areas of the disease in the Ashanti Region.
There were 240 focal persons in attendance. The programme was organised by Health Foundation of Ghana (HFG), a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), with support from Fontilles Lucha Contra La Lepra, a Spanish NGO, while the National Buruli Ulcer Control Programme (NBUCP), the Amansie Central District Assembly, the District Health Directorate and the Ghana Education Service (GES) were collaborators.
The participants included 80 community-based surveillance volunteers, 80 school health educational programme co-ordinators, 40 community health workers and 40 members of staff of St Peter’s Hospital at Jacobu.
Since 2005, new cases of Buruli ulcer totalling 3,033 have been recorded nation-wide.
The programme was to equip the participants with skills and knowledge to detect and also report Buruli ulcer at its early stages and increase awareness of the disease through information, education and communication.
As part of its programme, Health Foundation Ghana would additionally undertake public education in selected communities and provide medical and theatre support for the district’s Buruli ulcer referral centre at Jacobu.
The HFG has been associated with Buruli ulcer in the Amansie area since 1996 when they undertook research into the treatment of the disease at St Martins Hospital at Agroyesum.
Between 2002 and 2008, the NGO trained over 750 community health volunteers, teachers and health workers in a number of districts who in turn undertook various activities in connection with the disease in their respective communities.
Speaking at the opening ceremony at Jacobu, the Country Director of HFG, Mrs Lynda Arthur, stressed the need to remove the myths and stigma associated with the disease.
Participants at the training programme were informed that Buruli ulcer is covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme and urged to them report to the recognised health facilities anywhere in the country for treatment.
She urged health professionals and other health workers in the country to be abreast of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) current treatment recommendations for the disease to enable them to disseminate vital information to affected families and communities.
Mrs Arthur commended Fontilles for the support to Buruli ulcer endemic communities in the country.
The Amansie District Co-ordinating Director, Mr Matthew Tay, pledged the district assembly’s support to fight the disease.
Mr Charles Yeboah, a representative of the NBUCP, was confident that the efforts to control the disease would yield positive results because of the multi-sectoral approach adopted in the district.
The District Director of Health Services, Madam Agnes Adu, gave the assurance that her outfit was poised to team up with other stakeholders to control the disease.