By Emmanuel Akayeti.
An Entomologist and Malaria Focal Person of the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Sydney Abilba has said that the Vector Borne disease has been one of the major problems of the GHS.
He stated that GHS is doing everything possible to ensure that diseases that are caused by insects (vector borne) do not become Public Health emergencies and create problems in our society.
The Entomologist was speaking in an interview with our GBC News in Bolgatanga on the sidelines of the ongoing Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention Exercise (SMCE).
He said, the most common one is malaria which is caused by a vector, the Anopheles Mosquito, however, there are many vectors (insects) that cause other conditions such as the Aedes for Rift Valley Fever, Yellow Fever, Dengue and Chikungunya Fever, Anopheles Spp. for Lymphatic Filariasis among others.
He added that predominantly what is more problematic in Ghana is malaria and (Lymphatic Filariasis) that swells up the lower limbs known as elephantiasis.
”However, currently,” Mr. Abilba stated, “there are no cases of Yellow fever, with the Lymphatic Filariasis, through the intervention of a mass drug administration by the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is has been brought under control in the country.”
Malaria, he said, is still a problem at hand with interventions such as mosquito bed nets and indoor residual spray (IRS) which is able to reduce the vector’s density, that is the number of mosquitos in our households and the bed net prevents the mosquito from getting into contact with its host.
The Entomologist indicated that there are indoor and outdoor mosquitos and research has shown that the causative agent of malaria in this part of our country is the indoor resting mosquitoes.
”After the blood meal by the mosquito, they rest on the walls to nourish the eggs with the protein in the blood before going to lay them at the breeding site. As they rest on the walls, they take in the chemical of the IRS which goes to act on the central nervous system which creates paralysed, and in the process, they die and that reduces victor density (mosquito population),” he explained.
Mr. Abilba spoke of other interventions such as Larviciding or Larval Source management to destroy or kill larvae before they grow into a full mosquito.
”All this is in an attempt to eradicate malaria out of the system by the Ghana Health Service,” he posited.
