Alex Segbefia
The number of cholera cases in the Central Region has increased to 268 from the previous 157 cases reported as at November 1, 2016.
Out of the reported cases, 261 are from the Cape Coast Metropolis, while five are from the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese District.
Central Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Samuel Kwashie, said the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District and Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem Municipality have reported one case each.
Filth has taken over some parts of the country and it is just a matter of time before the disease spread to other parts of the country, as recorded two years ago where over 200 people died from cholera.
Dr Badu Sarkodie, Director of the Public Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), during a press conference in Accra recently, disclosed that there has been a re-activation of the public health emergency management committees in the region as well as the deployment of the rapid response teams from regional and national levels to support the metropolis.
He said the National Technical Coordinating Committee had recommended intensive public education, enhanced surveillance, proper case management, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) intervention for rapid containment of the disease.
Dr Sarkodie, however, stated that the population in Cape Coast Metropolis continuous to be at risk of contracting cholera because they continue to drink unsafe/contaminate water, consume unhygienically prepared or contaminated food and practice open defecation.
He, thus, urged all to practise good personal hygiene like drinking safe water, cooking food well and eating hot meals, washing hands with soap before eating and after using the latrines and safe burial of victims.
“If you or your family is ill with diarrhoea, immediately take oral rehydration solution (ORS), if there is none at home; take a lot of fluids such as coconut juice or lots of potable drinking water. Go immediately to the nearest health facility. Continue to drink ORS at home and while you travel to get treatment,” he said.
The Central Region is the second region to record an incidence of cholera this year after the Greater Accra Region recorded one confirmed cholera case. However, it is the first to reach an outbreak level of close to 200 cases in two weeks.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri