Dr Joseph Somuah Akuamoah, Executive Director of Goodlife Ghana, has called for the adoption of a multi disciplinary approach centred on prevention, preparedness and response in mitigating cholera outbreak in the country.
He said the approach, coupled with an effective surveillance system is very crucial in controlling the disease, especially in endemic areas thereby reducing the alarming rate at which people are dying.
Dr Akuamoah, who is also the Medical Director of St Joe’s Specialist Hospital at Kasoa, made the call in an interview with Ghana News Agency, as part of awareness creation by Good life Ghana, a non-governmental organisation.
As of September 10, a cumulative total of 14,411 cases including 127 deaths had been reported from 74 districts in eight regions, since the cholera outbreak in June this year. The death rate represents a case fatality rate of 0.9 per cent.
Dr Akuamoah, expressed worry over the alarming rate at which the disease is spreading, adding that it is unacceptable for an increasing number of people to be dying when the disease is preventable.
He noted that a number of hospitals, some in the regional capitals are not “battle-ready” to treat cholera patients because of lack of beds.
“The few who are fortunate to be admitted are discharged before they are due in order to make way for other victims,” he said.
Dr Akuamoah observed that there is lack of disease control officers, environmental health officers, community health nurses as well as implements to combat the epidemic.
He said there is the need for proper sanitary practices through the provision of safe water, facilities for proper disposal of faeces, preparation and storage of food under hygienic conditions since cholera transmission is closely linked to inadequate environmental management.
Dr Akuamoah recommended the need for the public to avoid the consumption of cold meals being sold since they could be the source of spreading the disease.
He said cholera remains a global threat to public health and a key indicator of lack of social development and advised that punitive measures should be put in place to curb the disease and its associated problems.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera that could result in a profound and rapidly progressive dehydration and death.
Symptoms are profuse painless watery diarrhoea without fever and or often associated with vomiting of clear fluid which usually starts suddenly.
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
