Parliament’s Health Committee is proposing that the Health Ministry must seek assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO) in tackling the outbreak of the deadly Pneumococcal Meningitis in Ghana.
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WHO must help us fight Pneumococcal Meningitis - Parliament
Joseph Yieleh Chireh said urgent steps need to be taken to contain the disease in order to prevent fear and panic.
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The chairman of the committee, Joseph Yieleh Chireh said urgent steps need to be taken to contain the disease in order to prevent fear and panic.
“If from the Brong Ahafo Region, it moves to the Northern Region and now to the Ashanti Region, there must be something that is alarming about it so the best thing is to alert the World Health Organization about this situation and seek help as to how effectively we can contain this disease,” he said in an interview with Accra-based Joy FM.
The outbreak of the disease began in December 2015 in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region which later spread to Wenchi, Techiman, Bruohan, Kintampo, and Sene districts.
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Bole in the Northern Region has also recorded some cases.
Over 30 lives have been lost to the disease while over a 100 people have been infected.
The Health Ministry has assured the general public that there is no cause for alarm.
But according to Mr. Chireh, Ghana has “never had a great outbreak of it in the past and the committee is concerned that this must be taken seriously and a little step higher than it is currently being done.”
“A lot more can be done in the sense that if we talk about public education, by now Ghanaians should all be aware.”
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He again proposed the setting up of a task force to help sensitize Ghanaians about the disease.
“The Ministry of Health must form a task force to be able to intensify whatever they are doing because it is in one corner.”
“Maybe many more people are not aware of what is happening. How are people whose relatives have died handling the bodies? These are the types of education that they can put out for all Ghanaians and not necessarily where the outbreak is,” he added.
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