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Background: Noise pollution is increasing across the world due to the increase in human activities in the urban areas. The main causes of noise pollution are man-made and environmental noise. However, long exposure to noise pollution could lead to dire health consequences like cardiovascular diseases, hearing impairment, sleep disturbances, and adverse social behavior etc., which is rarely documented in the study area. Objective: Communities in the developing countries such as Ghana have little knowledge of effects of noise pollution on human health, which is demonstrated by their attitude towards this menace. This study assessed the health impacts of noise pollution and its spatial distribution in the Tarkwa Mining Community (TMC) of Ghana. Methods: To achieve the study objective, questionnaires were administered; as well as collation of health data from major health centers in the study area. Noise levels were measured and noise map produced using geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Overlay maps of some diseases were done using overlay techniques in GIS. The noise exposure and corresponding noise doses for churches, working sites and social centers were also calculated using the respective formulae. Results: The noise levels were found to be high above the prescribed Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, with traffic noise levels ranging from 65.00 dBA to 98 dBA, while that of churches ranged from 73.10 dBA to 107.00 dBA and that of working sites from 74.4 dBA to 115.2 dBA. The calculated noise exposure and corresponding noise dose for churches ranged from 75.1 dBA to 104.6 dBA (i.e., 10% ‒8 000%), while that for workers' sites were from 75.8 dBA to 115 dBA (i.e., 12% ‒90 000%). Statistical regression and correlation analyses were done for diseases such as hypertension, ear problems and sleep disturbances. Conclusion: The study has therefore revealed that the noise levels in the study area are very high and corresponding health impacts are prominent. Stakeholders and authorities should devise mitigating measures to combat this rising menace. The results revealed a strong positive correlation between noise and corresponding health impacts. Despite the positive correlation there are other causes and effects to the mentioned diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), a parasitic nematode infection, poses a huge economic burden to affected countries. LF endemicity is localized and its prevalence is spatially heterogeneous. In Ghana, there exists differences in LF prevalence and multiplicity of symptoms in the country's northern and southern parts. Species distribution models (SDMs) have been utilized to explore the suite of risk factors that influence the transmission of LF in these geographically distinct regions.Methods: Presence-absence records of microfilaria (mf) cases were stratified into northern and southern zones and used to run SDMs, while climate, socioeconomic, and land cover variables provided explanatory information. Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Generalized Boosted Model (GBM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Surface Range Envelope (SRE), Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), and Random Forests (RF) algorithms were run for both study zones and also for the entire country for comparison.Results: Best model quality was obtained with RF and GBM algorithms with the highest Area under the Curve (AUC) of 0.98 and 0.95, respectively. The models predicted high suitable environments for LF transmission in the short grass savanna (northern) and coastal (southern) areas of Ghana. Mainly, land cover and socioeconomic variables such as proximity to inland water bodies and population density uniquely influenced LF transmission in the south. At the same time, poor housing was a distinctive risk factor in the north. Precipitation, temperature, slope, and poverty were common risk factors but with subtle variations in response values, which were confirmed by the countrywide model.Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that different variable combinations influence the occurrence of lymphatic filariasis in northern and southern Ghana. Thus, an understanding of the geographic distinctness in risk factors is required to inform on the development of area-specific transmission control systems towards LF elimination in Ghana and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]