By Richard Owusu-Anyaw
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has stepped up education on the Cholera epidemic in the Kumasi Metropolis, as a means of schooling the masses on prevention measures.
Last week Saturday, the KMA officially launched a cholera sensitisation programme at Bomso, a suburb of Kumasi.
The Chief Executive Officer of the KMA, Kojo Bonsu, said the 11,356 cases of cholera recorded in the Greater Accra Region between January and September was an eye opener for the KMA to take proactive measures.
According to him, the KMA has recorded 46 cases, out of which 11 have been confirmed as positive, but no death has been recorded so far, explaining that the recorded cases are migrants to Kumasi.
The Mayor mentioned the night cleaning exercise at the central business district, door-to-door education in the communities, coupled with the market durbars, as well as the introduction of the Rapid Response Initiative (ORANGI) squad deployed all over the principal streets to pick up plastic waste, as measures aimed at keeping a clean environment in Kumasi.
The Metro Health Director, Dr. Kwesi Yeboah-Awudze, indicated that the vibrio cholera is not as serious as Ebola, and that often times, it is not the bacteria that kills the affected person, but loss of body fluids and salt.
He encouraged the use of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), with a 600 milligram bottle made of potable drinking water, as first aid to replenish fluid which is lost through vomiting and diarrhoea, and while in the process, head towards the hospital for effective medication.
According to him, those who delay in reporting to the hospital after excessive vomiting and diarrhoea die from excessive loss of body fluid.
The Health Director bemoaned why people do not wash their hands when they are eating, but rather wash their hands after they have enjoyed the food, which might have been contaminated.
Dr. Kwesi Yeboah-Awudze confirmed that the metropolis had recorded cholera cases, but certainly not an outbreak like in other regions. “In fact, the situation in Kumasi is under control in the face of 46 cases, with 11 confirmed, and no deaths,” he emphasised.