The Zabzugu/Tatale District in the Northern Region is the worst guinea worm infested area in Ghana and second only to Sudan in the world.

The District recorded 698 guinea worm cases from its 74 communities between January and August this year as against 334 cases in 2001.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health, said this when he re-launched the Ghana Guinea Worm Eradication Programme at Kworili in the Zabzugu/Tatale District on Monday.

Dr Afriyie is on a week's visit to guinea worm endemic communities in the Region to interact with the people to find a possible way of eradicating the disease.

He said the region had always accounted for the highest number of guinea worm cases since the inception of the National Guinea Worm Eradication Programme in 1989.

He attributed the trend to the effects of the prevailing poor socio-economic conditions such as under-development, poverty, low education and poor water supply in most communities that made the eradication of the disease elusive.

Dr Afriyie said whilst Ghana recorded 3,087 cases of guinea worm between January and June this year, the Northern Region alone reported 2,422 cases during the same period.

This represents 78 per cent of the national total of guinea worm cases.

Dr Afriyie said it was the vision of the government to make the country free of guinea worm.

He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to work harder towards the realisation of this vision by treating every guinea worm case as a medical emergency.

The Health Minister appealed to the people in the area to co-operate with the authorities in the treatment of ponds to kill the water flea that carries the guinea worm larvae.

He pledged the support of the government and international partners to eradicate the disease that has afflicted them for a long time now.

Alhaji Yakubu Bukari, Zabzugu/Tatale District Chief Executive, said the lack of potable water in most communities is the major cause of the spread of the disease in the area.

He said only 31 out of the more than 66 guinea worm endemic communities in the district have access to limited safe water.

Health workers say the successful eradication of the disease would help boost agricultural production in the area.

They explained that when farmers and their families were afflicted with the disease, they were unable to work on their farms for up to 70 per cent of the farming season.