Tema, Aug. 25, GNA - Health facilities under the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate recorded a total of 43,733 malaria cases in the first half of the year. The number of cases reported at the Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of the various health facilities show a slight decrease over the 46,943 cases recorded during the same period last year. Mr Harvey Akafu, Tema Metropolitan Health Information Officer in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said while the Tema Township had the highest data of 24,815, Kpone recorded the lowest of 2,126. Mr Akafu stated that majority of residents of Ashaiman, Kpone and Tema Manhean preferred to seek medical care at the Tema General Hospital and the Tema Polyclinic as compared to the other health facilities near them leading to a high record of the disease in the Tema township. He advised residents of the Tema metropolis and the Ashaiman municipality to observe good sanitation practices in a bid to destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes.

Mr Akafu reiterated the need for the public, especially children and pregnant women to sleep under treated bed nets. Meanwhile between January and July this year, the Directorate recorded a total of 1,047 typhoid fever cases compared to the 1,217 recorded in the first quarter of 2007. The Health Information Officer giving the breakdown noted that, health facilities comprising both public and private in the Tema township recorded 642, followed by the Tema Manhean Health Centre with 255. He said, while the Ashaiman Health Centre had 150 typhoid cases, the Kpone Health centre did not record any during the period. He indicated that typhoid fever, which is a feaco-oral disease, is spread by houseflies that get into contact with the typhoid bacteria from affected human excreta and deposit it on foods. Mr Akafu therefore urged the public to always eat warm food, as well as practice personal hygiene including the washing of hands with soap anytime one visits the toilet, before touching food. He stressed the need for traders especially iced water and cooked food sellers, to regularly wash their hands with soap, to avoid transferring the bacteria onto the food and selling to unsuspecting buyers.