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An instant cash reward of GH�200 has been set aside in a special fund for persons who will report cases of guinea worm disease in any geographical area in the country, the Ghana Health Service�s (GHS) Director of Finance, Ramatu Ude Umanta, has said. She continued that the action was part of efforts at creating awareness and to entirely eradicate guinea worm disease in the country. The Director of Finance said this in a speech she read on behalf of the Director of Health Services, Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira at the grande finale of the National Guinea Worm Eradication Quiz competition for basic schools, held at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT)Hall in Accra, yesterday. The award scheme was introduced in 2010 with a cash reward of GH�100 but this had been increased in 2011 to the current amount of GH�200 to attract more persons getting involved in the eradication programme. Ms Umanta explained that Ghana entered the pre-certification phase of the Guinea worm eradication process and would be certified as a Guinea worm-free country this year, should it meet the World Health Organisation�s (WHO) two point criteria. The surveillance system is sensitive enough to detect any case of Guinea worm should it appear that there are indeed no Guinea worm cases in Ghana and a high level of awareness among health workers and the general public. The UNICEF Chief Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)Officer, David Duncan, reiterated the importance of the Guinea worm eradication programme, intensifying the campaign on awareness creation in all communities using methods which the people would appreciate. The Project Co-ordinator for Guinea Worm Eradication, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, said the quiz competition has been divided into district, zonal, regional and national levels.