GHS heightens surveillance to prevent poliomyelitis

The Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has heightened surveillance to check and prevent a possible outbreak of poliovirus in the three regions.

The Directorate has therefore called on the Municipal and District Assemblies to place a priority on promoting environmental cleanliness to complement efforts in guarding against the outbreak of the disease.

According to Dr. Kofi Issah, the Regional Director of the GHS, preliminary investigations showed the outbreak of the poliovirus in parts of the country last year was as a result of poor environmental sanitation.

Addressing a news conference in Sunyani, Dr. Issah advised the general public to promote good hygiene by keeping their surroundings clean at all times.

The purpose of the conference was to inform the media on the two to three rounds of oral polio vaccination campaigns being conducted by the GHS in the three regions and the need for the media to support and intensify public education on the exercise.

Last year, the GHS reported several cases from Chereponi, in the North East Region, Kumbungu, and Savelugu in the Northern Region, Central Gonja in the newly-created Savanna Region and Nkwanta North in the newly-created Oti Region.

In the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions, two of three children who were infected, died whilst the other victim survived with some level of paralysis.

Cases were reported from Asiri community in the Jaman North District of the Bono, Sissalaline in the Techiman Municipality of Bono East, and Kwasuso community in the Asutifi South District of the Ahafo regions where 24-month-old girl, 33-month-old-girl and 37-month old boy were infected respectively.

Following those incidents, the Regional Health Directorate with the support of its partners held a supplementary vaccination exercise to protect children against poliomyelitis in the three regions.

Explaining further on the round two-campaign, scheduled for February 5 to 8, Dr. John Ekow Otoo, the Deputy Regional Director, Public Health appealed to parents and guardians to cooperate with the vaccination team to vaccinate all children under five years.

He said a total of 570,864 children were expected to be vaccinated across the three regions, hoping with support from parents and stakeholders, the target would be achieved.

In the round one campaign, he said 579,740 children were vaccinated and had a coverage of 101.6 per cent, adding that, “vaccination teams would move from house to house, schools and fix post stations at health facilities to vaccinate all eligible children.

Dr. Otoo expressed appreciation to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) for their continuous support to the GHS in eliminating polio in the country.