Wassa East Suffers From Blackflies Invasion

Blackflies have invaded some parts of the Wassa East District in the Western Region, making the residents unable to attend to their regular activities. This has also forced the residents to wear protective cloths since there are no drugs to combat the flies. The vital drugs needed to combat flies in the affected areas, known as, Invermectin and Albendazole, have run out, and the District Assembly and the District Health Directorate have sent �Save Our Soul� (SOS) messages to Accra and the Western Regional Health Services for help. Women and men have been advised to wear long sleeves or dresses, while schoolchildren have changed their uniforms to long sleeve shirts and trousers to avert their exposure to the flies. The District Director of Health, Mrs Priscilla Amoah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that currently the directorate needed more Invermectin and Albendazole, the drugs normally administered to all residents in the community every year. She said currently, the district�s stock of 11,0000 Invermectin and 6,000 Albendazole had been exhausted. The district, she said, required a total of 300,000 of Invermectin and Albendazole to cover the entire district and beyond with a population of more than 18,000. Affected areas Some of the affected communities are Sekyere Krobo, Sekyere Heiman, Daboase, Bosomodo, Atta Ne Atta, Nsuekyere among other communities along the Pra River. Mrs Amoah said the district had made a request to the regional health directorate for an increase in supply of the drugs to ensure that everybody in the community was covered. Long dresses and treated net �We have also educated the people to stay indoors and also sleep in treated mosquito net to avert their exposure to the flies while we wait for more supplies,� the district director said. Mrs Amoah explained that for the past five years, the administration of Invermectin and Albendazole was very intensive which had resulted in the reduction of the effects of the flies. �However, I am surprised at the current invasion of the flies at this alarming rate causing social discomfort and slowing the movement of people in the district, as well as other economic activities,� she said. The directorate, she added, would continue to carry out preventive moves to ensure that the district was covered. Wassa East District Assembly The District Coordinating Director of the Assembly, Mrs Rachel Fosua Sarpong, said while they waited for the arrival of the drugs, the assembly, with support from the Information Services Department and the health directorate had embarked on an awareness campaign.