The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched its 2026 Integrated Mass Drug Administration (MDA) Campaign, targeting about 6.7 million people as part of efforts to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in the country by 2030.

Launching the campaign in Accra, the Director-General of the Service, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, said the exercise, scheduled from June 20 to July 3, would focus on the prevention and control of Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Lymphatic Filariasis (elephantiasis) and Schistosomiasis (bilharzia) in endemic communities.

He said NTDs continued to affect vulnerable populations, causing disability, stigma, suffering and loss of productivity, and therefore required sustained interventions and community support.

Dr Akoriyea noted that Ghana had made remarkable progress in the fight against river blindness and elephantiasis through years of mass drug administration and community-based interventions.

According to him, although 149 districts were previously endemic for river blindness, interventions introduced since 1997 had reduced the number requiring treatment to 86 districts.

He added that transmission of Lymphatic Filariasis had been interrupted in 114 out of 117 endemic districts, leaving only three districts requiring continued intervention.

He explained that treatment for Lymphatic Filariasis would target about 266,000 people, while community-wide treatment for Schistosomiasis would be conducted in 13 districts across eight regions, reaching more than one million people.

Dr Akoriyea urged community leaders, parents, teachers, religious leaders and the media to support public education efforts and encourage participation in the exercise, stressing that the medicines were safe, effective and would be administered free of charge by trained health workers and community volunteers.

He further expressed appreciation to development partners, including WHO and Sightsavers, as well as health workers, volunteers and other stakeholders for their continued support in Ghana’s fight against neglected tropical diseases.

The National Programme Officer for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Madam Felicia Owusu-Antwi, reaffirmed the organisation’s support for Ghana’s NTD elimination agenda.

She said WHO, through its Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN), continued to provide technical and operational support to Ghana, including disease mapping, medicines management, supply chain coordination and programme reviews.

Madam Owusu-Antwi stressed that the success of the campaign depended largely on community participation and high treatment coverage, urging the media to intensify public education in order to ensure that eligible persons took part in the exercise.

She also underscored the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene in controlling NTDs, noting that medical interventions alone could not eliminate the diseases.

The Programme Manager of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme of the GHS, Mr Joseph Kwadwo Opare, appealed to the government to increase funding support for the control and elimination of NTDs.

According to him, the changing global funding landscape made it necessary for government to commit more resources to sustain gains made in the fight against the diseases.

Mr Opare said children under five years, infants less than one month old and persons who were seriously ill would not be eligible to receive the medicines during the exercise.

By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu