In this era of technological advancement, there is a possibility for a fast association of knowledge in all fields of human endeavors. The health care delivery system of the Government of Ghana is being geared towards providing primary “health for all” by implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme. One way of achieving this goal is through the education of primary school pupils on better health care. This is certainly one of the domains of physical and health education. Health education is designed for primary school level to educate the pupils about common diseases in our immediate environment and their prevention.

Also health education can also bridge the gap, reduce some of our environmental hazards for the welfare of every citizen. It is well known that children are exposed to various hazards of communicable diseases, it is necessary to guide the children from these diseases. Therefore, the teacher should be very much concerned with the health welfare and survival of his pupils. Communicable diseases in the past have been “endemic” and now it has become “sporadic” because of the awareness of this study. As the name implies communicable disease is derived from the combination of two words, communicable and disease. Communicable is an illness that can be in exchanged, share, transmit or imparted.

Disease is an unfavorable condition of an organism caused by micro-organisms as a result of illness, disorder of the body or mind. Communicable diseases are sometimes referred to as infectious diseases. They are the diseases which are communicated from one person to another or from animals to man through personal contacts like air, water, dust or the use of personal belonging or families. The communicable diseases that are common in pupils in primary schools include; chicken pox, measles, cholera, whooping cough, typhoid, tuberculosis, craw-craw, poliomyelitis (infant paralysis). The research is intended to carryout the overview of communicable diseases among primary school pupils. It is also intended to give useful advice and suggestions to teachers in primary school in particular on how to prevent the spread of these communicable diseases among the pupils in primary school in Wa West District.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

This research intends to carryout an overview of communicable diseases among primary school pupils in Wa West District as a case study the researcher intend to do this under the following statement of problems.

1. a) Are communicable diseases common among primary pupils in Wa West District?
2. b) Do the pupils in Wa West District learn in a dirty environment that will lead to the spread of communicable diseases among them?
3. c) Are the pupils and the teachers aware of the prevalence of communicable diseases in the primary school in the Wa West District?
4. d) Does overpopulation in primary schools lead to the spread of communicable diseases among children?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of writing this project is as follows;

1. a) To identify the communicable diseases that is prevalent in primary schools in Wa West District of Upper West Region.
2. b) To find out the effects of communicable diseases on the pupils and the society at large.
3. c) To outline the various causes of the diseases.
4. d) To reduce and control the diseases among primary school pupils inWa West District of Upper West Region.
5. e) To examine the nature and scope of communicable diseases.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of this study cannot be overemphasized.

1. a) The study would also be of great help to the ministry of health and the government whose objectives of primary health care are preventive health and gradual eradication of these communicable diseases.
2. b) It will help the teachers and the pupils to be aware of the commonest communicable diseases in Wa West District primary schools with the view of preventing their spread.
3. c) Also helps the stake holders in the Ghana Education Service to prevent a crowdy classroom in order to give room for ventilation.
4. d) It helps the teachers to care about the health of the children and to know how to treat the infected pupil.
5. e) To helps in continuous training of teachers on disease control.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the prevalent communicable diseases in the Wa West District?
2. How can communicable diseases be controlled?
3. Do communicable diseases have any effect on primary school children?

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is exclusively limited to the effects of common communicable diseases on the educational attainment of primary school pupils in Wa West District of Upper West Region. It is possible to cover all communicable diseases within a short time, consequent upon this, the study is limited to the following diseases; measles, ringworm, and cholera.

 DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms were used in this research work, many have different meaning to many people in different fields but for the purpose of this study. The meanings of these terms are as follows.

Communicable diseases: They are the diseases which are passed from one person to another through water, air, dust etc.

Non-communicable diseases: These are diseases that cannot be spread through personal contact, water, dust, air, etc.

Immunity: This is the ability or power possessed by children to resist infection.

Dehydration: This is loss of water and dissolved salt from the body.

Immunization: This is a form of disease prevention involving the injection of a vaccine or an antiserum into the body of an organism in other to protect the organism from attack by a disease.

Vaccination: This is a form of disease prevention involving the administration of antigenic vaccine to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease.

Lumps: This is an infectious disease characterized by the swelling of the neck and the cheek due to the inflammation of the parotid glands at the junction of the neck and the lower jaws.

By

SULEMANI BINTA