Tema records no cholera cases in 2008

Tema, Jan. 27 GNA - Health facilities in the Tema Metropolis did not record any cholera case among the 348,116 attendants at their Out-Patient Departments (OPD) in 2008, Mr Harvey Akafu, Tema Health Information Officer, said at the weekend.

Mr Akafu, who was speaking to the GNA, said the figures of OPD attendance were from the Tema General Hospital; Tema Polyclinic; Kpone Health Centre and the Tema Manhean Health Centre as well as 84 private health facilities in the Metropolis that have registered with the Directorate.

He said the cholera record was achieved through his outfit's intensive education programmes.

Mr Akafu noted that even though the environmental challenges in the Metropolis have not been resolved, most residents have embraced the education on washing hands with soap eating hot warm food. To maintain the record in this year, he encouraged residents to educate their relatives and peers on the need to wash their hands with soap before eating and after visiting the washroom. The Health Information Officer further urged food vendors to prepare and sell their food under hygienic conditions and advised against eating of cold food.

Comparing the OPD records to previous ones, he said even though the Directorate recorded a total of 617,342 in 2007, it would be wrong to admit there has been a decrease since the previous records included that of Ashaiman which was now a Municipality on its own. He ranked disease reported in 2008 to include; malaria, 39,372; Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), 13,534; Hypertension, 13,315; Skin Diseases and Ulcers, 7,417.

The rest were; Rheumatism and Joint Pains, 5,495; Diabetes, 5,243; Acute Eye Infections, 4691; Anaemia, 4,134; Intestinal Worms, 3,809 and Dental Caries, 3,222 cases.

Mr Akafu said the Metropolis recorded a total of 110,313 malaria cases; 56,765 hypertension cases and 41,782 ARI in 2007. On the number of HIV/AIDS cases recorded, he said out of 4,425 pregnant women tested under the 'Prevention From Mother To Child Transmission' (PMTCT), 181 were HIV positive in 2008 while 150 out of 3,194 tested were positive in 2007.

He explained that under the PMTCT, it was mandatory for every pregnant woman to be tested for HIV/AIDS to enable the unborn baby to be protected should the mother test positive. 27 Jan. 09