By: Franklin ASARE-DONKO
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has warned of a possible outbreak of cholera in the areas affected by the flood occasioned by the Akosombo Dam spillage.
Government formed the 13-member inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Chief of Staff to address issues relating to the flood without the inclusion of the health minister.
The members are Ministers of National Security, Interior, Defence, Energy, Finance, Local Government, Works and Housing, Roads and Highways, Environment, Sanitation, Lands and Natural Resources, and Information.
The committee was formed on the instruction of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a statement issued by Information Minister Kojo Joopong Nkrumah on Friday, October 13, 2023, said.
But the GMA wants the Ministry of Health to be part of the 13-member inter-ministerial committee that has been formed to assess the flood situation.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Monday, October 16, 2023, the Acting General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Richmond Selormey, said: “In our view as the GMA, in such an emergence, there is a big component that the health sector plays in the relief efforts.
If you take this flooding for example, people have lost their livelihoods, people have been displaced from their homes, many don’t have access to basic amenities that they had before, and therefore there’s a great risk for waterborne diseases, for various injuries because of floating objects, The outbreak of some conditions such as cholera, typhoid, and even malaria because there is a pooling of water everywhere.
There is a big problem with continuity of care because people who used to access health facilities have been cut off. We are aware that there are about three health centres that have been cut off by the floods. This, we think, makes a compelling case that the Ministry, not the person of the Minister per se, has a big role to play in these efforts, and it is important that the Health Ministry is included in its inter-ministerial committee,” he noted.
Communities, including Mepe and Battor in the North Tongu Constituency, have been severely hit by the flood occasioned by the spillage.
