Cholera cases in Upper East coming down

Accra,(Greater Accra) 15, Oct. '98 Cholera cases in Upper East region, which was hardest hit by the recent outbreak of the disease, are on the decline, Dr Samuel Sackey, head of Disease Control Unit, Ministry of Health, said yesterday.

He told the GRi in Accra that the region recorded 1,439 cases from August 12 to October three with 38 deaths.

Dr Sackey said Bawku East, the district with the highest number of cases, recorded 894 with 27 deaths.

Now, he said, the region has been reporting only a few cases of the disease but declined to give figures.

Dr Sackey said the ministry is not interested in figures but how to reduce the death rate, adding that its staff have been well trained to manage the disease with enough medical supplies in the region.

The ministry recently warned of the outbreak of cholera in several regions and urged those with symptoms to report to the nearest health facility.

Dr Sackey attributed cases of disease to poor sanitation and said the deaths were the result of patients not reporting early to health facilities.

He advised people with diarrhoea to report to clinics early and stressed the need for public education and maintenance of personal hygiene.

He said district assemblies should make sanitation their priority ''because at the end of it is the assembly which suffers if the people are dying''.

Dr Lawson Ahadzie of the Disease Control unit urged the media to educate the public to keep the environment clean. GRi