690 Cases of cholera recorded in 2015
A total of 690 cases of cholera were recorded from 33 districts in the country as of November 2015.
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The development shows a drastic reduction in the 28,975 cases which were recorded last year as a result of the high practice of open defaecation, also known as ‘free range’.
The Programme Officer in charge of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Mr Kweku Quansah, made these revelations during the launch of the maiden United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) competition in open defaecation in Accra last Tuesday.
Number of deaths
Mr Quansah stated that in 2014, a total of 243 deaths were recorded, while 15 were also documented at the end of November this year as a result of the outbreak.
He indicated that there had been tremendous improvements in the control of cholera and other sanitation-related issues, “but more can be done to bring the menace under control”.
In view of that, he underscored the important role the media had to play to bring cholera to an end, noting that the successes chalked up so far were clear manifestations of the media’s critical role in educating the public on the matter.
“The reduction in the cholera cases during the year under review shows that the media has done well in their reporting, especially in the area of education,” he said.
Causes of cholera
Open defaecation has been identified as the key cause of cholera in Ghana and many African countries.
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To bring the situation under total control, UNICEF’s Chief of WASH, Mr David Duncan, said there was the need for the media, stakeholders, the government and all those who matter to do their best to end open defaecation.
Revealing some startling statistics on the practice of free range in parts of the country, Mr Duncan stated that nearly four out of every five Ghanaians living in the Northern Region, defaecated in the open since they lacked toilet facilities. He added that “for us in Ghana, we see the practice as normal, so much so that people often build houses without adequate toilet facilities. This calls for immediate measures from everyone in the country, especially the media, else it will take many years before Ghana can achieve the open-defaecation-free country agenda it has envisaged,” he stressed.
Media as key stakeholders
Mr Duncan reminded the media of the crucial role it could play to bring the practice under control.
In his view, the media could discharge its duties and responsibilities by continuously highlighting the challenges of ‘free range’ in Ghana, taking into account the successes and failures in rising to the challenge.
He added that the media could also tell stories about how Ghanaians were impacted by the practice, as well as how they were responding.
“By raising the profile of open defaecation, both the media and the Ghanaian public will be well placed to question how the country is not responding to the challenges and hold themselves accountable,” he added.
Notwithstanding that, Mr Duncan stressed that the government also had the responsibility of pooling the necessary resources together to ensure that it achieved its goal of ending free range by the end of 2020.