By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey, GNA
Accra, Jan.30, GNA- Today marks the third annual World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (WNTDD) with a call on everyone to address the inequalities that characterise NTDs.
The day being observed on the theme: “Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases,” highlights the need for the global community to be more committed to ending NTDs which cause immeasurable suffering among the world’s most marginalized communities.
The WNTDD also offers an opportunity to re-energize the momentum to end the suffering from NTDs that are caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins and also focus on the millions of people who have limited or no access to prevention, treatment and care services.
Neglected Tropical Diseases are a group of 20 infectious diseases which threaten 1.7 billion people living in the poorest and most marginalised communities worldwide.
Although these diseases do not kill, they cause blindness, disability, or disfigure people, taking away not only their health but also their chances of staying in school, earning a living, or even being accepted by their families or communities.
Health experts say NTDs are responsible for thousands of preventable deaths each year and cause impairments that perpetuate the cycle of poverty, keeping millions of adults out of work and children out of school.
Research has also shown that NTDs affect more than one billion people globally and cause pain and disability, creating lasting health, social and economic consequences for individuals and societies.
These diseases are widespread in places where water safety, sanitation and access to health care are substandard.
In spite of its negative effects on the quality of life, NTDs generally remain out of the field of interest for policymakers, and there are little resources to address them.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General, World Health Organisation (WHO),in an address to mark this year’s WNTDD, said the diseases were “neglected” because they were almost absent from the global health agenda, enjoy little funding, and are associated with stigma and social exclusion.
“They are diseases of neglected populations that perpetuate a cycle of poor educational outcomes and limited professional opportunities,” he said.
In Ghana, 14 NTDs are prevalent.
These are Buruli Ulcer, Guinea Worm, Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), Leishmaniasis, Leprosy, Trachoma, Intestinal Worms, Bilharzia, Elephantiasis, Yaws, Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Rabies, Scabies, and Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis (worms).
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is managing these diseases under respective programmes through Mass Drug Administration, morbidity management and health education across the country.
The Neglected Tropical Disease Programme of the GHS says Ghana like other tropical countries is endemic with a number of NTDs with Bilhaziar and worms infestation endemic in all districts.
The Programme says if NTDs are not addressed, gains made in public health would wash away and have dire consequences on national development.
The NTDs Programme has over the years implemented various Programmes to prevent the spread of these diseases, manage the morbidities, and possibly, eliminate them from communities.
Presently, 43 countries have eliminated at least one NTD over the last two decades , and with the right investments and actions, Ghana is likely to make incredible progress by strengthening the health systems to reach everyone with the available solutions.
The Programme says Ghana needs to, as a matter of urgency, increase investments towards finding solutions to the existing challenges for populations currently at risk to stay safe, while empowering them to live healthy and impactful lives.
The WHO campaign and advocacy plan: NTD Day 2022, calls on countries to shine a spotlight on NTDs and the suffering they cause.
It calls for comprehensive, universal care for everyone affected, stressing, “it is our collective responsibility to end diseases that are entirely preventable.”
The plan also entreats countries and NTD programmes to use innovations that have emerged before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to address disruptions and delays to the delivery of services.
It said Community health workers and volunteers could deliver effective NTD health services, especially to marginalized groups with the needed support and protection.
GNA.
