An Analysis Of The Guinea Worm Eradication Programme And Its Effects On Social And Economic Development In The Northern Region Of Ghana

ABSTRACT

Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) was officially reported in Ghana in 1965. As a result of the global campaign to eradicate the disease in the mid 1980s, Ghana investigated the magnitude of the disease on a pilot basis in the Northern Region. When it was established that the disease was a major public health problem in the country, Ghana started a local initiative towards eradicating the disease in 1986. Global assistance was extended to Ghana in its effort to eradicate the disease which was identified as the Ghana Guinea Worm Eradication Programme in 1989. From 1989 to 2011 the GWEP actively engaged in activities which were aimed at eradicating the disease. The programme recorded zero cases of guinea worm infections in 2011. The research examined the effectiveness of the programme in eradicating the disease and determine its effects on health and socioeconomic development.

The main objective for the research was to determine the effects of the programme on health and socioeconomic development. The factors responsible for the eradication of the disease were tested with respect to the following null and alternate hypotheses:

i. Hº – Increase in the provision of potable water did not cause a significant decrease in the number of cases of guinea worm infections; and

ii. H¹ – Increase in the provision of potable water caused a significant decrease in the number of cases of guinea worm infections.

The conceptual framework for the research was a hybrid framework of disease diffusion and disease ecology in which a disease survives locally in a community and spreads over wider geographic space. Primary data was obtained through the administration of two major sets of questionnaire. The first set was administered to household heads/residents, opinion leaders, and the second set administered to test the hypothesis. The data gathered was analyzed at the regional, the district, and ethnic levels of intervention. It was found that geological factors, cultural influences and environmental factors were responsible for the local survival and spread of the disease, immobilizing people and affecting productivity. The factor which was considered more responsible for the reduction in the number of guinea worm cases was intervention measures of the programme. The research found the programme positively affected health and socio-economic development by improving economic wellbeing, social wellbeing, and changed people’s behaviour towards the disease.

The research looked into the future of the programme and proposed a second phase of the programme to consolidate the programme’s success of eradicating the disease. It is recommended that there should be continuity of the activities of the GWEP to ensure that educational and social safety nets which contributed to the programmes success are not allowed to collapse.

The implication these recommendations on policy is that it could lead to an explosion in the acquisition of scientific knowledge and technological innovations in our rural areas, and increase the market share of the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the economy of Ghana.