Communities tasked to clean up to avoid floods, cholera
Communities in the Western Region have been urged to clean their surroundings to avoid an increase in suspected cholera cases on onset of the rains.
Mr. Oliver Cromwell, the Western Regional Director of the Environmental Health Directorate, said the main drivers of cholera were choked gutters, filth and dumping of sewage in drains.
He appealed to flood prone communities to desilt gutters and avoid directing sewage waste into gutters to curb the outbreak and spread of waterborne diseases.
The Director revealed at the first quarter Public Health Emergency Management Committee Meeting that most persons affected ate from food joints.
“When we traced their sources, we realised that these cooks prepared these foods along gutters and actually sold close to open drains.”
The members of the committee also described the Jubilee Market as a disease time bomb due to improper disposal of human waste.
The makeshift market was created to host market women from the Central Business area to pave way for the construction of a new market.
The unsanitary conditions have allowed many birds to scavenge around the area and posing a serious threat to safety of passengers who daily patronise air transport services.
Other members said galamsey and sanitation were twin environmental problems to which the nation must find a lasting solution.
Dr. Gifty Amugi, the Western Regional Director of Health, said the Region in first quarter of 2025 had 159 cases of suspected cholera, two dog bites and set up an MPOX treatment site for prompt response. Also, the Regional Red Cross trained 80 volunteers who worked in 393 communities and educating 154,065 individuals on cholera prevention.
