Accra, March 13, GNA - Dr. Nii Nortey Hanson-Nortey, Programme Officer of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, on Tuesday said the country had one of the worst reported cases of yaws in Africa. Dr Hanson-Nortey said considering the progress made by other African countries towards the eradication of the disease, Ghana had not done enough in that direction.
He was speaking in Accra at the Monthly Health Promotion Talk organised by the Ghana Health Services (GHS) which on Tuesday was on yaws.
Dr Hanson-Nortey said Ghana had not undertaken any active nationwide surveillance of the disease since the end of the World Health Organisation (WHO) assisted yaws elimination campaign in the late 1960s hence the upsurge of the disease.
Eastern Region has the highest reported cases of yaws followed by the Central, Western, Volta and Ashanti Regions. The prevalence rate is estimated to be 87 cases to 100,000.
Dr Hanson-Nortey said comparison of institutional and reported cases in 1993 and a rough field research showed that only 30 per cent of cases were being reported and that the standardized format for recording and reporting had not yielded results.
He attributed this to lack of commitment on the part of government and other donor funding partners, incomplete recording and late reporting, weak capacity of health personnel, inefficient allocation of resources for yaws surveillance and lack of priority to the programme of the disease at the operational level.
Dr Hanson-Nortey called on government to establish the prevalence of the disease, develop the capacity of health personnel and undertake national specific mass campaigns in collaboration with other funding donors.
Yaws is an infectious disease caused by a spirochaetal organism called Treponema pertenue. It is endemic in the tropics, especially in rural areas, among low social and economic group. The disease is treated with a single shot of Benzanthine penicillin.
It is transmitted by direct contact between individuals and usually affects children between the ages of five and 15 years. The disease occurs in three stages, the initial lesions known as the "mother yaws" or primary yaws, the secondary stage and the late stage (tertiary stage).
