Health Minister, Dr. Kwaku Agyemang Mensah says government is set to announce new measures to intensify its fight to curb the spread of the cholera outbreak.<\/p>\n
A cholera outbreak in seven regions in Ghana has claimed about 90 lives and affected over 10,000 people.<\/p>\n
The Health Minister was hopeful that the renewed efforts between his ministry and that of the Local Government and Rural Development will be the panacea to the sanitation problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ministries of Local Government and Health\u2026are putting something together to fight the cholera,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Medical supplies to health centers have been increased<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to cater for the increasing number of patients reporting daily for medical attentions.<\/p>\n The government has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to supply Ghana with oral vaccine<\/strong><\/span><\/a>s to combat the disease.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”rKqmZwrn2ILCi5cjkUvrKr3ChbFldUOs”]Speaking in an interview with\u00a0Citi News<\/strong>, Dr. Agyemang Mensah said government\u2019s efforts will come to naught if people do not take responsibility for their health.<\/p>\n He cautioned Ghanaians to note that \u201ccholera comes when you don\u2019t take care of your personal hygiene and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Agyemang Mensah\u00a0described as unfortunate, the number of lives which have been lost to the outbreak saying, \u201cit\u2019s preventable death; I mean we shouldn\u2019t continue to have these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Korle-Bu Polyclinic has attributed the prolonged admission of the cholera patients in the facility, to the refusal of patients to obey medical advice.<\/p>\n According to the Disease Control Officer at the facility, “the patients are advised not to take in peppery foods, fizzy drinks and drinks containing taurine but they do otherwise.”<\/p>\n Abigail Owusu told Citi News<\/strong>, treatment of cholera patients take three days \u201cbut some of our patients have been here for a week which means the person is not listening to the advice we are giving him or her so while we are treating, the person is still infecting him or herself.\u201d<\/p>\n She also stated that some patients abscond<\/strong><\/span><\/a> from the facility even when they have not been fully treated.<\/p>\n According to her, the patients out-number the health workers, making their escape from the hospital easier.<\/p>\n \u201cSome run away and they come back in a bad condition, some run away and they come back and die,\u201d<\/p>\n Madam Owusu explained that some of the patients abscond from the hospital because \u201cthey think the number of fluids that they have taken, they will account for it by paying money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe always tell them that if you take 10 fluids and someone takes one, both of them will pay GHC 20 but if you don\u2019t have, we don\u2019t force you,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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