AMA to demolish structures at Mensah-Guinea

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is to embark on a demolition exercise at Mensah-Guinea, a suburb of Accra, to clear the area of squatters whose stay there poses health hazards.

The move forms part of efforts by the assembly to curb the cholera epidemic that has engulfed the country, with the capital city, Accra, being the hardest hit.

A source who confirmed the demolition exercise to The Ghanaian Times yesterday said the exercise would be carried out today to deal with the filth that had engulfed the area.

The cholera epidemic, which has become a major health challenge to the nation, is fast spreading along the coastal areas to other regions of the country as it has so far claimed 106 lives, with 11, 739 people infected in seven regions.

Sixty people have died with 7,436 infections in the Greater Accra Region alone, as at last Friday.

The three regions in the North- Northern, Upper East and West Regions have so far not recorded any cases.

The disease infection and fatalities were traced from 50 districts in the Central, Eastern, Volta, Ashanti, Western and Brong-Ahafo regions.

The Central Region has recorded 11 deaths with 540 cases, followed by the Eastern Region, which also recorded 491 cholera infections with no deaths.

The Volta and Ashanti regions have six and one deaths, with 108 and 46 cases respectively.

The Western and Brong-Ahafo Regions have not been faced with any deaths yet, but have also recorded 33 and four cholera infections respectively.

The fatality rate of the disease stands at 0.8 per cent, and the attack rate of the disease infection also stands at 1.6 per thousand.

The Regional Disease Control Officer at the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate, Dr. Ato Ashon, has observed that the disease outbreak kept increasing by about 1,000 infections a week because relieved patients were re-infecting themselves with the disease.

“Most patients healed of cholera take their personal hygiene and environmental sanitation for granted, thinking they could not be affected again, and unfortunately end up at the hospital on admission.”

He noted that the disease was fast spreading since the public had refused to pay heed to the advice to avoid filth and open defecation.

Dr. Ashon said the 2786 cases recorded two weeks ago in public health facilities such as Korle-Bu, Mamprobi, Mamobi and Kaneshie in the Accra metropolis, increased to 3,890 cases with 31 deaths as at last week.

The situation, according to him, was not different at the La General Hospital, which has recorded 1,020 cases as at last Friday, against the 805 cases recorded two weeks ago.

Cases recorded at the Ablekuma Sub-Metro currently stand at 1,361 with 13 deaths while the 528 cases recorded at the Osu Klotey Sub-Metro increased to 682 cases with six deaths as at last Friday.

Ga South Sub-Metro has recorded 558 cases with five deaths; Ga West Sub-Metro has recorded 425 cases with one dead while Ga East and Central have recorded 112 and 60 cases respectively, with no deaths.

The Tema Municipality and Okaikwei Sub-Metro have also recorded 1,226 and 443 cases respectively, with seven deaths each as at the end of last week.