Cholera besiege Accra
Despite the cholera outbreak in most parts of the metropolis, most hawkers and food vendors are still selling to consumers in filth.
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At the Accra Central Market, Abogbloshie, Abuja, Odorna, Mallam Atta and Madina, among others, people are seen busily selling fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, cassava dough, groundnut paste and other foodstuffs right by the gutters on the pedestrian walk way and surrounded by heap of garbage.
The imminent cholera outbreak started flying high about two months ago when waste and refuse engulfed the nation’s capital, Accra, but officials in the metropolis looked on unconcerned and now the ripple effect of that indifference is the outbreak of cholera.
Currently, about 200 cholera cases have been reported in Accra, with some deaths.
What is more nerve-racking is the fact that almost all the hospitals in the capital are not combat ready to treat cholera patients because of lack of beds.
Patients who are fortunate to be admitted are discharged before they are due in order to make way for other victims.
The La General Hospital was last week forced to convert its Out Patient Department (OPD) into a Cholera Unit as the high number of cases overwhelmed the hospital.
The Ga West Municipal Hospital at Amasaman in the Greater Accra recorded 14 cases of suspected cholera on a daily basis and was compelled to treat patients in an uncompleted building since a six-bed make-shift structure provided for the treatment of cholera was full.
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The Korle Bu Polyclinic serves Agbogbloshie, Chorkor, Jamestown and its surrounding areas and is also struggling with the number of patients who report to the facility daily for the treatment of cholera.
The health facility does not have a cholera unit and also lacks enough personnel to deal with the many cases being recorded daily.
The alarming situation has forced the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, and a team of government officials to embark on clean-up exercises at some 18 unapproved dump sites in Accra, reports Zainabu Issah.
The exercise, which began around 8:30 p.m. at the Agbogbloshie Market on Monday, was conducted following a directive from President John Dramani Mahama to the Local Government Ministry and city authorities to, as a matter of urgency, clear all refuse within the metropolis to help curb the recent outbreak of cholera.
About 40 tipper trucks and other heavy-duty equipment were deployed to the sites to cart all the refuse to a new dumping site provided by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Addressing the media, Mr Amissah-Arthur called on the AMA and sanitation agencies to clear all refuse at unapproved dump sites in the metropolis within 10 days.