WA, Sept. 8, GNA - The Upper West Region has seen a significant decline in the prevalence of guinea worm in recent times despite its low potable water coverage of about 67.1 per cent. Most of the cases recorded were imported from other endemic areas of the country.

The region registered a total of 19 cases as at June with nine of them classified as imported as against 90 cases last year, 12 of which were imported while in 2005, the number of cases reported were 333. This was made known at Wa on Friday at a stakeholders' meeting on guinea worm eradication in the region as highlights of this year's mid-year performance review conference of the Ghana Health Service in the region

The meeting offered the participants the opportunity to identify shortcomings and revitalize strategies and efforts in order to come out with pragmatic solutions towards the total eradication of the disease in the region by 2009.

In the Wa East District, three villages have been classified as endemic this year in contrast to 11 in 2006, thereby revealing a remarkable improvement in the situation in the district. Key stakeholders like the Community Water and Sanitation Agency and Pronet, a local non-governmental organization, made presentations on the level of their interventions towards the eradication of the disease. Mrs. Winifred Dy-Yakah, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister who opened the meeting, urged the stakeholders to consider behavioural change as one of the core ingredients that should be used in fighting the disease.

She appealed to traditional rulers, opinion leaders and district assemblies to collaborate with key players in the eradication programme. She said government would support with water projects and relevant facilities in the crusade to eradicate the disease totally from the country.

Dr Erasmus Agongo, the Regional Director of Health Services, said education should form a key strategy in fighting the disease because if the people were well educated on the prevention of the disease, they would never get infected even if they travelled to guinea worm endemic communities.

He said the annual scenario of devoting a full day to guinea worm eradication in the mid-year performance review conference of the health sector in the region showed their zeal to eradicate the disease in the region by 2009.