Sustain guinea worm awareness campaign

Students of Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) Junior High School (JHS) in the Mpohor District of the Western Region have appealed to the Government to sustain the public education on guinea worm prevention.

They said although this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Ghana as Guinea worm-free, there was the need to continue sensitising the public on the dangers of the disease to avoid being infested again.

The students expressed these concerns when officials from the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Guinea Worm Eradication Programme of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) presented prizes to contestants' who represented the school in a national quiz competition on guinea worm eradication at Adum Banso.

The quiz competition was funded by the United Nations International Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) under the WHO's guinea worm eradication programme.

The contestants for BOPP JHS emerged champions at the zonal, district and regional levels, and placed third at the national level.

They received exercise books and certificates for their efforts while the school was rewarded with a glass plaque, rubber buckets and dustbins.

Mrs. Dorcas Hushie, Programme Officer at the Schools Help Education Programme (SHEP) unit of Ghana Education Service, commended the school and the contestants for their achievements and urged them to work hard to achieve more laurels.

She said the contestants in the quiz competition were now guinea worm ambassadors and urged the school authorities to support them to disseminate information on the disease.

The Acting head teacher of the School, Mr. Cecil Amuah, said she was impressed with the performance of the school's contestants although they encountered a lot of challenges during the duration of the competition from the zonal to the national level.

He noted: "It is a rare experience to place third in a national quiz competition considering the remoteness of the school and other logistical constraints".

He commended the teachers and management of BOPP for their cooperation and support.