Report on a visit to Ghana: 17-22 Avril 1978

. hoh ea{ .l ,,-t*rt" Le e) ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA snrurE OtiIGIlir.^'I, : EI'TGLISH WORLD HEALTH . ORGANIZATION oiTcHoci]ncr*s I.l III TILE YOI[/. CO}TEROI ?ROGR,,I.,[JE IiIWR BiiSIi'T r".REA Led t,r{ it colToMr c lpvnr,oPt.ili;l-T UNII ocv/nco/7e.za/eu neport on a visit to Ghana tT-22 /rpriI 1978 by D. Carney Ouagadougou, I.Iay 1978 REPORT oli h VISfT TO Gl]*ltrli 17-22 ,ipri], l97B D, Carney This I'\ras one of the pariodie rrj-sits ul.dert.*;cn i[r-rrj-::g thc courso ofeach year to revievv aetivities in the oncho zone of Ghana, to upd.ate o1d.inforuation and. eollect nen inforuation, lvith the ultinate ain of prep-aration of the annual socio-econonic report of the Onchocerciasi-s Control?rograi:ure. The ltinero.ry of the yisit vras as follows z I{ond.ay 17 ,i.priI : - By road from Ouagadougou to Bolgatanga : visitsto the Upper Region branch of the llinistry of Econonic Planning, the Upper Region :",gricu1tura1 Developner:t Project, the CIDi. lTater project andthe Electrlcity Corporation of Ghana (Upper Begion). - By road. to Tauale : rrisit to the itrorthern Regionbrancir of the lvtinistry of 'planning. t : By road to .Iiccro.r : - Visi-ts to UN-D? Office, I,Tational Onchocercj-asls _ S ecretari-at . : - Ylsits to T,Iorld Bantr Representatiye, Ui( HighCommission, Canadj-an l{igh Conmission, Institute of Aquatic Biologrl the Council_'for Scientific and fnclustri_al Research, Dr ,,.0. .I:.bud.u (UiU"fll), , I'lational Onchocerclasis Secretari-at, : - By air from Accra to Tanale : visit to thellorthern ilegion _branch of tne l,linistry of Eco- nomic Plannj-ng (1,{r. K.:'.. Johnfia, principal _ Econonlc Plannj-ng Officer). : - By road fron Tanale to Ouagadougou. Tuesday lB iipril !?ednesday 19 .ti.priI fhursday 20 ili:ril Friday 21 i,prll S.aturdav 22 ,i.prit I.[onday 17 .|pri] The stop-oYer in Bolgatanga vras not fruitful since ilrere wes either no new info:raation available or the principal-s concerr:ed lvere array. Thesituation regarding ihe supply of power in Bolgatanga renained unthangedsince the last yisit. ft was therefore necessary to proceed to fanale the sarae c1ay, Thesituation was sinilcr since the principals rvere absent. l,ir, II./r.. Johnfiaof the Mj-nistry of Deonomic ?lanning, itorthern Region rr'as in .:.ccra onOfficial business. / -2- [uesday 18 i.pril i lJhe day was spent travelling by road to Accra. lTednesday -19 .rpri.I : courtesy v-isits rvcre nade to the UIID? office and the lTational oncho-cercj-asis secretariat, and meetings had v,rith }iir. Gary Davies, DeputyResident Representative and iir. Jaa Yrarrtberg, Assistlnt nesiieni"n""pr*""rr-tative of the Uj.[Dp, and with Dr. J.B.B..Lsalu_ridjaye and IIr. Id.S. Belo_Givraof the National Onchocerciasis Secretariat. It{r. Belo-Givia kindly acco:.}ilanled. ne on all ny appointgents in,,rccrathe fol1oli-ng day. fhe nain infomratj-on derived fron qy visit to the ldational- oncho-cerciasj-s Secretariat and to Dr. ribudu, Project lrianager of the Upper RegionAgricultural Developnent Project, "or,""rrred the rerriJed. arrangements forthe Onchocerciasis Surwey Unj-t. The Unit rryilI be detached. fron the UpperReglon iigricultural Developnent ?roject and assigned to the l{inistrTr ofPlanning, being physically located in the iitorthern Region offioe of theMinistry of Econoro.i-c ?lanning and operatlng under ilre direction of theExecutive Director of the liational oncrrocerclasis [iecretariat. - Fiio vrl]I provide the Development Planning coordj-nator, and arrangenentsfor undertaki-ng the socio-econonic studies of the Ghana oncho zone willbegin as soon as the Development Planning coordinator assunes his functlons. fhe UttrDp contribution of US .;, 5OO OOO will be usecl to provide :(") general developuent and planning assj-stance to the ExecutiveDi-rector of the ltrational onchocerciasis Secretariat, includingtraining of personner in regional d.evelopment planning ;(r) coordlnation of fielcl studies to be undertalcen by the onchocer-ci-asis Surwey Unit of the Secretariat lvith those to be undertakenin other Regions ancl by other organi_zations ;(") provision of ecluipirent for the ][ational onchocerciasis secretariat ancl the Institute of ,l,quatic Bio1ory. The lTational oncirocerciasis Secretariat confi:meci that the protocolbetween the Govervurent of Ghana and tire ,'lfricair Developnent Bank for theimplenentatlon of the earth satellite study of the oncho zone of Ghana.had been signecl in Octobet L977. Brltish. Hieh Con:-rission I[r. ]IancLy of the British iligh Connission gayeBritish Govern-'rent t s partieipation to date in theUpper Region ^gricultural Development ?roject, IIe was norv being constzuctecl for the seni-or officials a" brief suiu-LalTr of the i-nplei:entation of the indj-cated that housing of the Proj ect and that -1- inflation had boosted up cost cstinateo from about rt >o oo0 to aboutrt zoo ooo per housing unit. The availabillty of housi.ng is the dete:rniningfactor on holv soon the rest of the expatriate staff coulrl arrive to takeup tl:eir d'uti-es, Iilectricit;r sould. be provided by generators nolr on orderand expectecl to be d.elivered shortly. rhere could be transportationproblems, ho'rieYer, in getting the glnerators fron liccra to Bolgatanga. Cana4ian Iileh Cornnission L'Ir. I;lusselnan of the Canadian I{igh Corrnrlssion provided. supplementarylnfo::niation regarding the piesent cID/, lTater pro j eci j-n the llpper Regiondue to be ooropleted i-n 1978. fhe Ghana Governnent hacl neanrlhlle requestedthat a healtl: conponent be integratert into the project. A teanrr of consult-ants had reported. on the project in DecenAer tgll.- the proposal concernsthe inplenentation of tlvo district heal-th pilot projects each under adistrict nedical officer and r.ined at ?(") i-mprovenent (u) assi-stanee d.iseases (") strengthening of health serni-ces. Fridqy 21 Jrr:ri1 : A visit to I'[r. K.rl. Johnfla at the ]tinistry of Economic planni-ng,Tamale, provlded an opportunity for a bri-ef rerriew of events and. sonreinforroati-on on the electricity supply cnd. de::rand position in l,iorthern andupper Regions, Ile also lndicated irrtt tn" USAID iras interested in under-taking a training progiamile in rural planning and. development actirritlesj-n the llortherr: Region. ,' (D. Carney,Chief, Econonlc Developnent Unit -..--. of envlronxrental heal_th in the suryeil-l_ance and control of connunlcabtre '.-., /,/ ,)