Tain District gets NTDs rehabilitation centre

A rehabilitation centre established to provide free medical treatment for persons affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) has been inaugurated at the Debibi Health Centre in the Tain District in the Bono Region. 

The facility, located in a deprived farming community, was established by three non-governmental organisations (NGOs), namely; Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), Indigenous Women Empowerment Network (IWEN) and Tim Africa Aid Ghana (TAAG), to treat and halt the further spread of such diseases.

At the inauguration of the centre last Wednesday, the Executive Director of TAAG, Isaac Kwabena Kakpeibe, said the centre was set up to provide appropriate integrated care and rehabilitation services to help reduce morbidity, disability and the psychosocial impacts of the affected persons.

Comprehensive care

The centre is expected to provide comprehensive services such as wound care, physiotherapy and mental health support.

It will also act as a hub for facilitating referrals and ensuring continuity of care from community-level diagnosis to specialised treatment. 

The refurbished centre has a separate outpatient department (OPD) equipped with special medical equipment and drugs to provide medical attention.

It is part of the implementation of the NGOs project, dubbed, "Community Integration and System Strengthening Project (CISSP) Against Skin NTDs" and sponsored by ANESVAD Foundation.

It is a two-year project implemented in the Bono and Ahafo regions to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable people by fighting and preventing the most prevalent skin NTDs such as buruli ulcer, leprosy, yaws, elephantiasis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.

Grappling with NTDs

The Tain District Officer of Disease Control, Philip Yeboah, said the district was still grappling with some of the skin NTDs.

He mentioned elephantiasis, onchocerciasis, yaws, leprosy and schistosomiasis as some of the common diseases tormenting some vulnerable communities.

Mr Yeboah explained that yaws was very common among schoolage children in the area.

He said a recent screening for schistosomiasis in schools detected 178 cases among schoolchildren in the district, explaining that the disease had caused the presence of blood in some of their urine.

Collaboration 

For his part, the Project Manager of CISSP, Edward Ayabilah, called on community members to embrace the initiative and collaborate with them to eliminate the diseases.

The Health Committee Chairman of the Debibi Traditional Council, Gabriel Kwadwo Manu, thanked the NGOs for selecting the community for the project.

He said some of the diseases were common in the community and expressed the hope that the centre would help control and eliminate them.

"It is true that the community is grappling with the diseases," he said.

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