The Sub-Metro director of health for Osu Klottey, Dr. Bright David Teye, has revealed on the Citi Breakfast Show (CBS) that, 50% of Ghanaians eat without washing their hands.
Accra has been battling with the outbreak of the cholera disease with about 500 cases recorded in Accra so far.
A short-term contingency plan, comprising of media campaigns and the supply of chlorine tablets, has been rolled out by the government to contain the epidemic and prevent it from spreading any further.
But, in an interview on the Tuesday edition of the Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Teye noted that poor personal hygiene is a major contributing factor to the outbreak of cholera across the country.
According to him, research conducted by the health ministry this year has showed that, 90% of the people who contracted cholera, were those that patronized food sold by street vendors.
He insisted that, eating home-cooked meals, washing of hands and keeping the enviroment clean are some of effective ways of preventing cholera.
Dr. Teye called on Ghanaians to prioritize their personal hygiene to enable the nation deal with the outbreak of cholera.
“In this particular outbreak if individuals are going to be responsible in the decisions they make I’m sure this outbreak will be over” – he said
Meanwhile, a water and sanitation expert at the World Bank, Harold Esseku, has also lamented the state of personal hygiene in the country and has attributed the late payment of refuse collectors in the country to the poor sanitation conditions.
“No matter how good a contract you have in place, no matter how good a plan you have in place, if the people are paying then they will not have the capacity to do their work.”
He added that, “becomes a major challenge but when you talk to them they say there are delays in payment so they say they cannot go out and do what they are supposed to do”
By: Benjamin Epton Owusu/Citifmonline.com/Ghana