Bolgatanga, Dec. 18, – Health
officials in the Upper East Region have announced their readiness to contain
the spread of the Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in Senior High Schools and
among the general public as they begin intensive public education in the
region.
Dr Winfred Ofosu, Regional
Director of Health Services in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA)
said all health facilities in the region were stocked with logistics and kits
to diagnose CSM cases for treatment.
“Because the region is on the
meningitis belt, we are always ready for it. As far as diagnosing and treating
meningitis cases are concerned, we are prepared as health facilities”
In order to prevent the disease
from spreading, Dr Ofosu said the Directorate had directed all District Health
Management Teams (DHMTs) to begin educating the public on the disease. “We want
to use this medium to call on the public, that, when they feel unwell, they
should call at the hospitals and avoid self-medication, because self-medication
will result in wasting time in the house and by the time they finally end up at
the health facility, it would have been too late” he added,
Two students died in the early
hours of Wednesday from CSM at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku. The
two, whose names were not provided were brought in from the Bawku Senior High
Technical and the Tempane Senior High Schools.
Dr Clement Oppong, Medical
Director of the hospital who confirmed this in an interview with the GNA said
six additional students from the former school were currently on admission and
in critical conditions.
He said the in-patients were
under surveillance, while investigations were underway to confirm if those on
admission were also suffering from same conditions, and added that most
students panicked owing to the recent reported cases of deaths at the Kumasi
Academy and Damango Senior High Schools.
Some Senior High Schools in the
country recorded deaths from CSM. Notable among them is the Kumasi Academy
where scores of the students were admitted to hospitals and later diagnosed
with the disease.
GNA
No comments:
Post a Comment