Community knowledge and perceptions of the cause and consequently the appropriate measure to remedy an ailment determine whom people turn to for advice, help, information and treatment when bogged down with a disease. The role that community plays in the etiology, explanation, prognosis and treatment seeking behaviour cannot be underscored, because it provides indepth information on the burden of the disease, the local understanding of the causes of the disease and therefore its management. The purpose of the study was to describe community knowledge and perceptions about Buruli ulcer (BU) and how to prevent Buruli ulcer in the Obom sub-district of Ghana. Survey questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection to solicit information on community knowledge and perceptions of Buruli ulcer in the communities. In selecting respondents for the community survey, systematic sampling was used to select 300 respondents for the study. The study revealed a high level of knowledge about Buruli ulcer in the selected endemic communities. However, Buruli ulcer patients were perceived as people who have been bewitched (36.7%). Others (21%) blamed them as people who did not take good care of themselves while another 11.1% saw Buruli ulcer infected people as having normal wounds. Findings therefore show that although there was a high knowledge of signs and symptoms of Buruli ulcer among community members in the Obom sub-district, their understandings and interpretations of its causative factors varied from those of the biomedical understandings. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that community outreach and education on the treatment and management of Buruli ulcer should be continued on a sustainable basis in the endemic communities.
References
[1]
Ackumey, M. M., Kwakye-Maclean, C., Ampadu, E. O., de Savigny, D., & Weiss, M. G. (2011). Health Services for Buruli Ulcer Control: Lessons from a Field Study in Ghana. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 5, e1187. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001187
[2]
Adamba, C., & Owus, A. Y. (2011). Burden of Buruli Ulcer: How Affected Households in a Ghanaian District Cope. African Study Monographs, 32, 1-23.
[3]
Ahorlu, C. K., Koka, E., & Ye-boah-Manu, D. (2014). Social Interventions for Buruli Ulcer Control in Obom Sub-District of Ghana. Towards Effective Disease Control in Ghana: Research and Policy Implications: Volume 2 Other Infectious Diseases and Health Systems, 2, 5.
[4]
Ahorlu, C. K., Koka, E., Yeboah-Manu, D., Lamptey, I., & Ampadu, E. (2013). Enhancing Buruli Ulcer Control in Ghana through Social Interventions: A Case Study from the Obom Sub-District. BMC Public Health, 13, 59. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-59
[5]
Amofah, G., Bonsu, F., Tetteh, C., Okrah, J., Asamoa, K., Asiedu, K., & Addy, J. (2002). Buruli Ulcer in Ghana: Results of a National Case Search. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 8, 167-170. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0802.010119
[6]
Asiedu, K., & Etuaful, S. (1998). Socioeconomic Implications of Buruli Ulcer in Ghana: A Three-Year Review. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 59, 1015-1022. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.1998.59.1015
[7]
Aujoulat, I., Johnson, C., Zinsou, C., Guédénon, A., & Portaels, F. (2003). Psychosocial Aspects of Health Seeking Behaviours of Patients with Buruli Ulcer in Southern Benin. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 8, 750-759. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3156.2003.01089.x
[8]
Awusabo-Asare, K., & Anarfi, J. K. (1997). Health-Seeking Behaviour of Persons with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Health Transition Review, 7, 243-256.
[9]
Bannerman, R. H., Burton, J., & Ch’en, W. C. (1983). Traditional Medicine and Health Care Coverage: A Reader for Health Administrators and Practitioners. http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/19842007666.html
[10]
Eddyani, M., Fraga, A. G., Schmitt, F., Uwizeye, C., Fissette, K., & Johnson, C. (2009). Fine-Needle As-piration, an Efficient Sampling Technique for Bacteriological Diagnosis of Nonulcer-ative Buruli Ulcer. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 47, 1700-1704. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00197-09
[11]
Elliott, C. (2010). The Effects of Silver Dressings on Chronic and Burns Wound Healing. British Journal of Nursing, 19, S32-S36.
[12]
Ghana Statistical Service. (2010). Population and Housing Census.
[13]
Grietens, K. P., Toomer, E., Boock, A. U., Hausmann-Muela, S., Peeters, H., Kanobana, K., & Ribera, J. M. (2012). What Role Do Traditional Beliefs Play in Treatment Seeking and Delay for Buruli Ulcer Disease? Insights from a Mixed Methods Study in Cameroon. PLoS ONE, 7, e36954.
[14]
Hausmann-Muela, S, Muela Ribera, J., & Tanner, M. (1998). Fake Malaria and Hidden Parasites—The Ambiguity of Malaria. Anthropology and Medicine, 5, 43-61.
[15]
Kargbo-Labour, I. J. (2010). Community Perception and Knowledge of Buruli Ulcer in the Ga West Municipality Area. Ghana: University of Ghana. http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/5155
[16]
Karim, F., Islam, M. A., Chowdhury, A. M. R., Johansson, E., & Diwan, V. K. (2007). Gender Differences in Delays in Diagnosis and Treatment of Tuberculosis. Health Policy and Planning, 22, 329-334. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czm026
[17]
Kibadi, K., Boelaert, M., Kayinua, M., Minuku, J.-B., Muyembe-Tamfum, J.-J., Portaels, F., & Lefevre, P. (2009). Therapeutic Itineraries of Patients with Ulcerated Forms of Mycobacterium ulcerans (Buruli Ulcer) Disease in a Rural Health Zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 14, 1110-1116. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02324.x
[18]
Koka, E., Yeboah-Manu, D., Okyere, D., Adongo, P. B., & Ahorlu, C. K. (2016). Cultural Understanding of Wounds, Buruli Ulcers and Their Management at the Obom Sub-District of the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 10, No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004825
[19]
Lonnroth, K., Linh, P. D., & Diwan, V. K. (2001). Utilization of Private and Public Health-Care Providers for Tuberculosis Symptoms in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Health Policy and Planning, 16, 47-54. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/16.1.47
[20]
Louw, D. A., & Pretorius, E. (1995). The Traditional Healer in a Multicultural Society: The South African Experience. In L. L. Adler, & B. R. Mukherji (Eds.), Spirit versus Scalpel: Traditional Healing and Modern Psychotherapy (pp. 41-58). London: Bergin and Garrey.
[21]
Marx, R. (1989). Social Factors and Trachoma: A Review of the Literature. Social Science & Medicine, 29, 23-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(89)90124-X
[22]
Ministry of Health, MoH, Ghana. (2012). Half-Year Report.
[23]
Nienhuis, W. A., Stienstra, Y., Thompson, W. A., Awuah, P. C., Abass, K. M., & Tuah, W. (2010). Antimicrobial Treatment for Early, Limited Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection: A Randomised Controlled Trial. The Lancet, 375, 664-672. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61962-0
[24]
Nsungwa-Sabiiti, J., Kallander, K., Nsabagasani, X., Namusisi, K., Pariyo, G., Johansson, A., Tomson, G., & Peterson, S. (2004). Local Fever Illness Classifications: Implications for Home Management of Malaria Strategies. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 9, 1191-1199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01319.x
[25]
Nurge, E. (1977). Etiology of Illness in Guinhangdan. In D. Landy (Ed.), Culture, Diseases and Healing: Studies in Medical Anthropology (pp. 138-146). New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Inc.
[26]
Paul, F. (1999). Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[27]
Portaels, F., Chemlal, K., Elsen, P., Johnson, P. D., Hayman, J. A., Hibble, J., & Meyers, W. M. (2001). Mycobacterium ulcerans in Wild Animals. Revue Scientifiqueet Technique (International Office of Epizootics), 20, 252.
[28]
Portaels, F., Silva, M. T., & Meyers, W. M. (2009). Buruli Ulcer. Clinics in Dermatology, 27, 291-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clindermatol.2008.09.021
[29]
Pretorius, E. (1991). Traditional and Modern Medicine Working in Tandem. Curationis, 14, 10-13. https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v14i4.339
[30]
Renzaho, A., Woods, P. V., Ackumey, M. M., Harvey, S. K., & Kotin, J. (2007). Community-Based Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on the Mode of Transmission, Prevention and Treatment of the Buruli Ulcer in Ga West District, Ghana. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 12, 445-458. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2006.01795.x
[31]
Seijas, H. (1973). An Approach to the Study of Medical Aspects of Culture Current Anthropology (Vol. 14, pp. 544-545).
[32]
Steen, T. W., & Mazonde, G. N. (1999). Ngaka ya setswana, ngaka ya sekgoa or both? Health Seeking Behaviour in Batswana with Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Social Science & Medicine, 48, 163-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(98)00329-3
[33]
Stienstra, Y., van der Graaf, W. T., Asamoa, K., & van der Werf, T. S. (2002). Beliefs and Attitudes toward Buruli Ulcer in Ghana. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 67, 207-213. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2002.67.207
[34]
Thomas, F. (2008). Indigenous Narratives of HIV-AIDS: Morality and Blame in a Time of Change. Medical Anthropology, 27, 227-256.
[35]
Van der Werf, T. S., van der Graaf, W. T., Groothuis, D. G., & Knell, A. J. (1989). Mycobacterium Ulcerans Infection in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 83, 410-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/0035-9203(89)90521-X
[36]
Wessels, W. H. (1985). Understanding Culture-Specific Syndromes in South Africa—The Western Dilemma. Modern Medicine of South Africa, 10, 51-63.
[37]
Winch, P. J., Makemba, A. M., Kamazima, S. R. et al. (1996). Local Terminology for Febrile Illnesses in Bagamoyo District, Tanzania and Its Impact on the Design of a Community-Based Malaria Control Programme. Social Science & Medicine, 42, 1057-1067. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00293-6
[38]
World Health Organization, WHO. (2000). Buruli Ulcer: Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection. World Health Organization.
[39]
World Health Organization, WHO. (2001). Buruli Ulcer: Fact Sheet No. 199. Geneva: WHO.
[40]
World Health Organization, WHO. (2009). Neglected Tropical Diseases, Hidden Successes, Emerging Opportunities. http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/44214
[41]
Yeboah-Manu, D., Kpeli, G. S., Ruf, M.-T., Asan-Ampah, K., Quenin-Fosu, K., & Owusu-Mireku, E. (2013). Secondary Bacterial Infections of Buruli Ulcer Lesions before and after Chemotherapy with Streptomycin and Rifampicin. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 7, e2191. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002191
