Climate change/variability and schistosomiasis transmission in Ga district, Ghana

Abstract

Most studies on climate change and schistosomiasis transmission have mainly been on the development of models to understand the nature of the relationship. Globally, no attempt has been made to understand the relationship from the point of view of community members through public perception studies. In addition, there is no study on the nexus between climate change and schistosomiasis transmission in Ghana, albeit the disease is endemic in some parts of the country. This article attempts to fill both knowledge gaps. It uses four climate variables, hospital reported schistosomiasis cases, and data from focus group discussions undertaken in Ga District. Results show an increasing trend in total annual rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, and a decline in the number of rainy days between 1970 and 2010, during which time there was an increase in reported schistosomiasis cases. A Pearson correlation analysis shows negative and positive significant associations, respectively, between temperature and total rainfall and schistosomiasis cases. However, maximum temperature granger causes reported schistosomiasis cases. Community members perceive that extreme warm temperatures in recent times encourage people to swim in rivers, which increases infection rates. Rainfall is associated with water-based activities including swimming, washing, and bathing. Some control and prevention interventions and treatment-seeking behaviours are discussed, and some recommendations provided.

Keywords:

• climate variability
• climate change
• schistosomiasis
• prevalence
• perceptions
• Ghana

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the International Development Research Centre of Canada for providing funding for this study through the Climate Change Adaptation Research Training Capacity for Development (CCARTCD) Project with Component Number: 106548-001.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.