Health professionals at the Adabraka Polyclinic in Accra will not be able to handle cholera cases should there be an outbreak in the capital.
“If there is an outbreak today or tomorrow, I’ll say no, we are not ready because the isolation unit that we used for the last outbreak is broken down totally now and we can’t use it,” the Acting Head of the Adabraka Polyclinic, Dr Abdul Razak Quao told Citi News.
[contextly_sidebar id=”z5fFeG8J0sX15C5xYVqImBQOUm5VaZ06″]Last year, over 200 people died from a cholera outbreak that hit the country with over 14,000 confirmed cases.
Most hospital facilities were overstretched, which left victims being treated on benches and mattresses on the floor.
There are fears of a similar outbreak with the onset of the rains.
Already, the Adabraka Polyclinic has recorded two confirmed cases.
Dr Abdul Razak Quao told Citi News even though both patients have been treated and discharged, the facility urgently needs a new isolated unit to deal with cases effectively should the numbers begin rise.
“Our old isolation unit was a tent. The base was made from wood. Most of the wooden were rotten. Sometimes, when you are walking on it, your leg will go down the slaps. Before we closed it down, a nurse twisted her angle in the unit. It is dangerous to both the staff and patients”, said Dr Quao as he explained the conditions that led to the closure of the unit to Citi News.
According to him, officials from the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) have been to the facility to access it, but added that “we are yet to see any actual work”.
Dr Quao is therefore appealing to philanthropists to help the clinic’s officials set up a new isolation unit.
Meanwhile, Citi News checks at other health centers, including the La General Hospital and the Korle-Bu Polyclinic all in Accra showed those facilities have recorded no cholera cases yet.
By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana