Kumasi: The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate is set to embark on a Mass Drug Administration (MDA) exercise against Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, and Schistosomiasis, commonly called bilharzia, in selected districts across the region.
According to Ghana News Agency, the exercise, which forms part of Ghana's drive to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) as a public health problem by 2030, will run from June 20 to July 3, 2026. The onchocerciasis component of the exercise will be carried out in nine districts, including Ahafo Ano North, Asante Mampong, Atwima Mponua, Offinso North, Ejura Sekyeredumase, Sekyere East, Sekyere Central, Sekyere Kumawu, and Sekyere Afram Plains. Three of these districts - Atwima Mponua, Sekyere Afram Plains, and Sekyere Kumawu - are also endemic for schistosomiasis and will, therefore, receive an integrated treatment covering both diseases.
Dr. Fred Adomako-Boateng, the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, said the exercise was aimed at interrupting the transmission of the two diseases, reducing the intensity of infection, and preventing disability such as blindness and elephantiasis among residents in the affected districts. He explained that trained Community Drug Distributors (CDDs) would go from house to house within the affected communities to register eligible persons and administer the medicines.