GMA calls for measures to halt cholera spread
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has called on the government to put in place more pragmatic measures to halt the the spread of cholera in the country.
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The association also implored the government to publish a detailed and comprehensive programme informing the people about how it intended to help in eradicating the disease.
It further asked public health units of the various health facilities to run health education campaigns in their respective communities to stem the spread of the disease.
The President of the association, Dr Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, made the call when he addressed a news conference in Tamale at the end of the Fourth National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the association in Tamale yesterday.
He advised the p[ublic to take all necessary precautions, including “proper personal hygiene, to avoid contracting the disease.”
The association said the “recent cholera outbreak is the worst in the history of the country in terms of the number of people affected, as well as the resultant mortalities.”
It attributed the situation to poor sanitation and cited statistics from the Ministry of Local Government that indicated that 50 per cent of Ghanaians did not have access to toilet facilities while 23 per cent were said to be practising open defaecation.
Tier two pensions
The association expressed displeasure at the manner in which the government had so far managed the Tier-two pension of its members. It indicated that members who would be retiring in January next year did not know where they would be claiming their benefits from or how much had accrued to them.
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“This is because the government has failed to release or transfer the contributions of members of the GMA to the Health Sector Occupational Pension Scheme, which has been duly registered, licensed and approved by the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA).
According to him, the association had decided to throw its support behind the position of organised labour on the Tier- two pension for public sector workers “and will indeed participate fully in all activities it would organise to press home its demand for proper management of the Tier-two pensions.”
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The association also advocated the early release of funds by the National Health Insurance Scheme, to ensure uninterrupted delivery of health services to clients, especially, at the time health facilities were recording high cholera cases.
The association reiterated its appeal to the government to suspend the capitation system as a mode of payment in the Ashanti Region, where it has been piloted and to not implement it in the other regions since it had failed in the Ashanti Region.