Fear Of Outbreak Of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis In Northern Ghana

Reports from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions indicate that a few cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis and yellow fever have been detected in some districts. This came to light when the Minister of Health, Dr..Eunice Brook-Amissah, met with Regional and District Directors of Health Services in the three regions at Tamale. Present at the meeting were the Chairman of the National Disaster Management Committee, Mr.. Kofi Portuphy, and the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr.. Asabigi. The meeting was to enable the Minister to assess the state of preparedness in health officials in the three regions to detect, manage and control epidemics, particularly cerebro-spinal meningitis and yellow fever. A statement issued by the Ministry of Health said a number of cases are usually detected around this time of the year but that does not constitute an epidemic. Health officials say cases so far detected have been treated and contacts have been made for vaccination programmes. There has been an ongoing vaccination exercise in the North since the last epidemic earlier this year. The exercise is to be given a new boost to achieving 80 percent coverage. People in the Northern sector are, therefore, advised to promptly report all suspected cased of CSM to the nearest hospitals. End