The Principal Investigator of the Filariasis Research Project at Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Diseases, Prof. Alexander Debrah, has advised patients infected with elephantiasis to avoid attributing the causes of the disease to witchcraft and local deities.
He said this while addressing more than two hundred health professionals in the management of the elephantiasis disease in Navrongo on Friday, March 14, 2024, in the Upper East region as part of a project to control the disease in the region where elephantiasis is endemic.
During his address, Prof. Debrah cautioned that elephantiasis patients should also not resort to the application of herbal concoctions and prayer camps for treatment. Rather, they should immediately report to the nearest health facility for attention and management when they see symptoms.
He explained that elephantiasis could be managed when detected early, and so patients should not hesitate to visit the clinic as treatment has been made free.
““When they go to the clinic, they will get everything they buy for free. So if you are in Avongo here and you get attacked, just go to the clinic. They will receive you; the drugs are there. They will teach you how to wash your legs.
“They will give you the wool, the soap, and everything. Like if you need some antibiotics, they will be given. Surgery is not good.”
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Prof. Debrah observed that patients with the disease, who are mainly poor, find it difficult to seek medical attention. He therefore renewed his appeal to the government “to include the management of the disease in the National Health Insurance Scheme and also enroll in the LEAP project.”
One of the patients, Madam Abelewine Atinga, who has lived with the disease for the past seven years, shared her experience with GBC News. She spoke through an interpreter.
“My attack started one day when I went to fetch water. On my way coming back, when I was almost in the house, I started shivering and feeling cold. Then I couldn’t even go home with the water. I had to pour it away and enter the house. It all started from there. For three years. When I started to have the attack, it took about three years before my legs started becoming big.
“I became unhappy because I was going to the hospital every day. I was unable to mingle with my peers the way I use to do and unable to attend programs.”
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Statistics show that more than five thousand cases of elephantiasis have been reported in the Upper East Region, mainly in the Kasena Nankana East and Kasena Nankana West Districts.
The disease, according to research, is caused by tiny worms transmitted by mosquitoes.
When not treated over a long period of time, it leads to swelling of parts of the body such as the legs, arms, and scrotum.
Patients who are diagnosed with the disease live with it for the rest of their lives. The project is expected to inaugurate two management centers in the two endemic districts.