Fight against cholera: Health Service to vaccinate 541,798 persons in Central Region
The Central Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has begun an exercise to vaccinate more than half a million people against cholera in the coming days.
The move is to help combat the persistent surge of cholera cases in the Central Region in recent times.
The four-day exercise targets vaccinating 541,798 individuals across three districts in the Central Region from Friday, April 4, 2025, to Monday, April 7, 2025.t
The districts include the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality, Cape Coast Metropolis and the Mfantseman Municipality.
According to the Central Deputy Regional Director of Health, in charge of Public Health, Dr Joojo Cobbinah, the three districts were selected due to the high numbers of recorded cholera cases.
He said persons from the ages of one year and above were eligible for the oral vaccination, and that only pregnant women and lactating mothers were exempted from the vaccination.
Deaths
The Central Region has recorded more than 30 deaths and more than 2,000 suspected cases of cholera since the outbreak in October 2024.
A vaccination point at Effutu in the Cape Coast Metropolis
Health officials have undertaken several interventions to contain the outbreak transmission.
However, last year was not the only time that the region had been hit by an outbreak.
The Central Region had a critical cholera outbreak in 2014 during the country’s worst ever cholera epidemic.
The region reported 3,846 cases of the disease with 60 deaths.
That was the worst outbreak in the last two decades.
There were no cases of the disease in 2013, but in 2012, there were 108 cases with 12 deaths and 588 cases in 2011 with 11 deaths.
In 2015, the region had 18 cases of cholera, while in 2016, cases of cholera in the Central Region hit more than 260 cases.
The region did not record cases during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the adherence to strict hygiene protocols.
According to the Central Regional Health Promotion Officer, Mathew Ahwiren, unlike the COVID-19 vaccines which many residents refused to take, residents were receptive to the cholera vaccines so far.
He indicated that vaccinating teams were working together with the leadership of the communities to achieve vaccination targets.
Appeal
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting at the Regional Health Directorate in Cape Coast last Thursday, Dr Cobbinah gave an assurance that the drugs were safe and had no post-vaccination symptoms.
Some pupils being vaccinated at Mantsimankabi, a surburb of Komenda in the KEEA Municipality
He, therefore, appealed to all residents in the selected districts to avail themselves and their households of the vaccination to help solve the persistent rise of recorded cholera cases in the region.
He urged residents to report any suspected post-vaccination reaction to the nearest health facility for redress.
Dr Cobbinah further urged residents to prioritise hygienic lifestyles by ensuring that all health protocols as witnessed during the era of COVID-19, amid the vaccination exercise were adopted.
He stressed the need to eat adequately heated foods and to wash hands regularly, especially before meals.
He said it was important to ensure a cleaner environment and sanitary conditions to help break transmission in the communities.
Sanitation
The Head of Immunisation for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Ghana, Fred Osei Sarpong, for his part advised Ghanaians to clean up their communities for the sake of their health.
Dr Joojo Cobbinah, Deputy Central Regional Director of Health
He said it was necessary to take the sanitation of their communities seriously and not to rely on agencies to clean their environment.
He emphasised that Ghana and Ghanaians could no longer rely on other countries for support in times of health emergencies, saying countries like America had decided to withhold its funding for many health interventions, adding that it behoved Ghanaians to promote a cleaner, safer environment to promote improved health for all.
He advised communities to put in place the necessary interventions such as clean-up exercises to promote cleaning the communities, saying such interventions were critical to reducing infectious diseases caused by filth.
