Sightsavers Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and other stakeholders, commemorated World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day 2025 with a national event held at Sogakope in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region.
The event, held on January 29, 2025, highlighted the progress made in combating NTDs and called for an end to the stigma faced by individuals living with these conditions.
Mr. David Agyemang, Country Representative of Sightsavers Ghana, reaffirmed his organisation’s commitment to eradicating NTDs in Ghana, indicating Sightsavers plans to intensify its efforts through research and programme enhancements, including training 2,000 health workers, 12 surgeons, and providing 300 hydrocele surgeries in 2025.
The organisation also aims to implement behaviour change communication strategies to combat the stigma against NTD victims.
Sightsavers’ efforts are aligned with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) roadmap to control and eliminate NTDs by 2030.
According to Mr. Agyemang, “Sightsavers Ghana remains committed to working with stakeholders to achieve this goal and ensure that no one is left behind.”
Speaking in an interview with DisabilityNewsGH.com, Mr. Agyemang emphasised Sightsavers’ long history in fighting NTDs in Ghana since the 1970s.
He highlighted their contributions, including research support, drug distribution, free hydrocele surgeries, logistical support to the Ghana Health Service, and training health workers to manage conditions like lymphedema.
He urged communities to participate in mass drug administration exercises and encouraged victims to seek early healthcare, cautioning against relying on prayer camps instead of medical interventions.
Ghana has made significant progress in combating NTDs, with the eradication of guinea worm disease and human African trypanosomiasis, as well as the elimination of trachoma. However, there is still much work to be done to eliminate the remaining NTDs.
NTDs are a group of 20 diseases that affect over 1.7 billion people worldwide, mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. In Ghana, NTDs are prevalent in rural and impoverished communities, where access to healthcare is limited.
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Ghana include, Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis), Onchocerciasis (River Blindness), Trachoma, Soil-transmitted helminths (STH), Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), Guinea Worm Disease (Dracunculiasis), Human African Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping Sickness), and Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease).
Sightsavers Ghana urges the public to support victims of NTDs, rather than stigmatizing them, and calls on the government and private sector to provide adequate funding and support to eliminate NTDs in Ghana.
With renewed commitment and collective action, Sightsavers Ghana and its partners are determined to make Ghana an NTD-free country by 2030.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com