Cholera Outbreak In Ghana Is Unacceptable - Dr. Serebour

The General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Frank Serebour is concerned over the annual outbreak of cholera in the country describing it as unacceptable in a middle income country. He says, cholera in certain cycles has been described as a �100 century� disease because it has not been recorded for the past 100 years and this raises concern as to why Ghana with its socio-economic status on the global arena should record cholera as an epidemic. Dr Serebour was speaking at the launch of this year�s Global Handwashing Day at the St. Benedette Soubirious School at Dansoman, a suburb of Accra. The Day celebrated around the globe with over 170 countries seek to inculcate the ideals of handwashing in children as an effective mechanism of preventing most preventable diseases. This year�s Day celebration was hosted by the P Z Cussons in 75 schools across the country as a Public Private Partnership (PPA) collaboration under the auspices of the United Nations. The occasion was used to launch as essay competition on �Why I Wash My Hands� with a GHC 1000 for the Winner, GHC 600 and GHC 400 for the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively with a year�s supply of Carex products. Dr Serebour took a swipe at the Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) for reneging on their responsibilities of ensuring sanitation. Noting that, about 97% of sewage systems in the country are not functioning with about 50% of homes having no toilets, endangering the lives of people. Handwashing practice, according to Dr Serebour is a sure way of dealing with majority of preventable diseases in the country. Speaking to the Head of the Brand Development and Activation Unit of PZ Cussons, Mr Gazie Decker, he disclosed that, research indicates awareness and proper handwashing practice among schools that have participated in the Global Handwashing Days for the past 4 years have increased to 70% which is a significant step. Mr Decker urged parents to set hygienic principles by practicing effective handwashing so as to deeply inculcate the practice into their kids as a way of ensuring better health status of the children.