The Sekyere East District Health Directorate in the Ashanti Region, is taking proactive steps to control the outbreak of scabies, an infectious and intensely itchy skin disease.

According to Mr. Justice Ofori Amoah, the District Health Director, clinical cases of 314 including; school children, were recorded in 2019 and the health Directorate was still making moves to fight the disease as the figure could be higher considering those that were not reported at health facilities.

“The cases could be higher than recorded since majority of the citizenry especially those in the rural and very remote communities may be affected and not reported to the various accredited centres for medical treatment,” he added.

He said the upsurge was new in the District as year 2017 and 2018 recorded zero cases according to the Directorate’s Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response Mechanism, and thus called for decisive measures towards its prevention and control.

Mr Amoah was speaking at the 2019 Annual Performance Review of the District Health Directorate of the Sekyere East District at Effiduase.

As a measure to control and stem the further spread of the contagious disease, the Directorate has commenced a public awareness creation campaign in schools, markets, churches, mosques and other public places to educate the people on maintaining proper personal hygiene while influencing infected family member to seek medical treatment.

Highlighting on the disease, he said, Scabies also known as “sarcoptic mange” which was caused by a tiny burrowing mite, spreads quickly through close physical human contact, but it is treatable through the administration of oral and topical medications.

Mr Amoah mentioned Tuberculosis and Yaws as the other diseases of public health concern in the District and gave the incidence of recorded cases for TB as 41, 24 and 25 in 2019, 2018 and 2017 respectively.

Yaws on the other hand had seven, two and zero cases of in 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Mr Amoah said the District achieved a Family Planning Acceptor rate of 46.7 percent in the year 2019 – above its target of 40 percent in 2019.