A community durbar on skin-neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has been held at Diare in the Savelugu Municipality of the Northern Region to create awareness to enhance acceptance, care and support for people affected by skin-NTDs.
About 400 community members including traditional authorities, opinion leaders, persons with skin-NTDs and their caregivers, students amongst other stakeholders were sensitised by staff of the Ghana Health Service during the community durbar.
It was organised by BasicNeeds-Ghana, an NGO, as part of its “Building civil society coalition to advocate for an integrated approach to control skin-NTDs and enhance the quality of life of vulnerable and affected people in Ghana” a project, which is being implemented with funding support from Anesvad Foundation.
Mr Kingsley Kumbelim, Programme Officer, BasicNeeds-Ghana, speaking during the sensitisation, said the project sought to support in addressing issues of skin-NTDs across 11 districts in the Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper East, Upper West and Bono Regions.
Mr Kumbelim explained that skin-NTDs were neglected diseases, and persons with skin-NTD did not get the needed care and support compared to other health issues hence the project to create awareness to enhance acceptance, care, and support for them in the country.
He appealed to Chiefs in the country to make pronouncements supportive of skin-NTDs in their various jurisdictions.
Naa Abukari Abdulai, Chief of Diare entreated community members to support efforts at addressing issues of skin-NTDs, saying people with skin-NTDs required the support of all devoid of stigma and discrimination.
Some persons with skin-NTDs, who were among the participants, appealed to members of the public to support them by showing love and care for their situation, instead of stigmatising and discriminating against them and appealed for support in accessing treatment.
