The Government has released GH¢ 5,500,000 million for the provision of water in the guinea worm endemic communities to support the contribution from donor partners. An additional GH¢ 50,000 (500 million cedis) has also been voted for free treatment of guinea worm, Dr Gladys Norley Ashittey, a deputy Minister of Health, said at a day's guinea worm eradication media workshop in Accra on Wednesday. The media encounter, designed by the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme (GWEP) in collaboration with the stakeholders, was to update the media on the latest development on the Programme. The Deputy Minister said it was unfortunate that Ghana ranked second on the world chart on Guinea worm after Sudan and noted that government had declared guinea worm eradication a national priority and a disaster in the Northern region. She said though the figures were reducing, there was an increase in the reported cases, specifically in Savelugu, which recorded over 700 cases in January alone. Savelugu in the Northern region has been the highest endemic district and had recorded 64 per cent of the total national figure. A total of 2,693 cases were recorded in 2006 in the country and 3,033 cases has been recorded as at June 2007. The Northern region recorded 98 per cent and only 100 cases have been recorded from the other nine regions, which were mostly imported from the Northern region. "For the last three months, we have produced reductions when compared to the same months in 2006 and if this trend should continue, we expect additional progress in the coming months," Dr Ashittey said. Dr Ashittey commended the European Commission and UNICEF for their contribution of 20 million Euro in support of the water and sanitation project in nine most endemic districts in the Northern Region. Source: GNA