Cholera cases hit 200

Over 200 incidents of cholera have now been recorded in the Central Region from the earlier reported 157 cases.

The Ghana Health Service said it was working to forestall a repeat of what happened in 2014, when a nationwide outbreak led to 150 deaths out of 17,000 recorded cases.

The most recent cases have been attributed to infected persons transmitting the disease to others.

Speaking to Class News, the Deputy Regional Director of Health in charge of public health at the Ghana Heath Service, Dr Kweku Karikari, said combating the epidemic was a joint responsibility of the assembly and the public.

“…We have over 200 cases; there is no death. We are on top of it. … The only challenge is people’s habit and hand washing habits. … It’s a behavioural thing. The only good thing is that it has not spread to the other districts. … Two years [ago], there were too many deaths in the whole country…and this year we have to come back to the same thing,” Dr Karikari said.

He noted that until Ghanaians change their attitudes, the disease will continue to claim lives every year and urged the assemblies to increase their effort in enforcing environmental laws.

“When people do not do what they are supposed to do and in the end the cases end up at the hospital, we, the health people, are the ones who have to talk about it, but the issues are clear. [The cause] is the environmental sanitation and it’s the assembly’s work monitoring environmental sanitation. The fact is that people selling will have to be screened well; the environment in which they prepare their food [must be checked]. It is an environmental sanitation work, which is the assembly’s work. The habit of the people themselves too is a problem. It’s all behavioural. When there is no epidemic, people just relax and go back to their old habits. The assembly does not mind. The assembly either does not have the funds or doesn’t prioritise environmental sanitation and then we come back to square one,” he lamented.