Ghana Eliminates Trachoma

The Minister for Health, Kweku Agyeman-Manu has announced that trachoma, a visual impaired disease, has been eliminated from the country.

Addressing the press yesterday in Accra, he said “Ghana has officially been given the World Health Organization (WHO) validation letter, affirming that the country has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. This is no feat; considering the volume of work that has been done over the years to bring us this far.”

According to reports, trachoma is a disease of public health importance in 41 countries in Africa, and it is responsible for the blindness of visual impairment of about 1.9 million people.

Globally, there are 160 million people living in trachoma endemic areas who stand a risk of trachoma blindness.

However, the minister happily stated that “Ghana has become the first country in sub Saharan Africa to have eliminated trachoma, two clear years before the global elimination target year of 2020”.

A scientific study conducted, according to him, showed that trachoma was on the rise in two regions as a result, the ministry of health partnered with organizations hence put in place strategies in order to eliminate trachoma.

“The ministry of health recognized trachoma as a disease of public health significance in the northern and upper west regions so we put in place a national trachoma control program in 2000 with the overall aim of eliminating trachoma as a cause of blindness from the country by the year 2010” he stressed.

He also indicated that blindness from trachoma is not life threatening but the affected persons, who are usually aged 15 years and above endure enormous suffering.

“We are poised to mitigate the miserable effects of blindness by giving them a right to sight, which is necessary for their economic and social activities,” he stressed.

The Minister challenged the Ghana health service to continue to strengthen the health system through surveillance to track any incidental cases and also communicate clearly to communities the strategies which have been put in place to take care of accidental cases.

He promised that the ministry shall relentlessly work to make sure Ghana’s current status of trachoma stays so in many years to come.

“The ministry of health shall, therefore continue to work tirelessly through inter-sectorial programs and with partners to ensure that Ghana’s current status of trachoma stays so in many years to come”. He emphasized.

By: Sally Gonyo and Sandra Amevor