WATER SOURCES AND OTHER DETERMINANTS OF DRACUNCULIASIS IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

This paper describes a study carried out in a rural area of Ghana on t he drinking water sources and other determinants of dracunculiasis (gu inea worm disease). The results confirm the association between water source choice and the prevalence of the disease. A logistic regression model was used to show the combined effect of several behavioural, bi ological, and environmental risk factors. The important behavioural fa ctors were related to the head of household, fetching of water, travel ling, and farming. Age was found to be an important biological risk fa ctor for dracunculiasis, but the greatest relative risk applied to tho se who had suffered from guinea worm disease in the previous year. Alt hough males were significantly more infected than females when analysi ng the raw data, sex did not prove to be a significant risk factor in this model. Village of residence was an important environmental risk f actor for dracunculiasis. Factors related to socio-economic status wer e not associated with the risk of infection. The paper concludes by pr esenting the policy implications of the study findings.