With Cholera claiming 19 lives and more than 3,000 suspected cases in the Central Region, stakeholders in Cape Coast are stepping up localized interventions to contain the outbreak and safeguard lives in the Metropolis.
The Health Promotion Officer at the Cape Coast Metro Health Directorate, Mr. Aaron Essuman, revealed in an interview that 279 cholera cases and 3 deaths have been recorded in the metropolis.
He said that health officials have initiated contact tracing to contain the spread, reaching 658 individuals who have been in contact with the confirmed cases.
‘We need to engage them, talk to them on how and where they had their food, water, other things,” said Aaron Essuman. “In case they are also suspected cases, we can treat them. We are still doing our best. Our contact tracers are still on the ground. They have their ears waiting for any other information so that they can get there to rescue.”
Despite the swift response efforts, Mr Essuman pointed to the core of the problem, poor sanitation practices.
According to him, an assessment after their investigation failed to identify specific contaminated water sources or food.
“All the waters that we tested proved negative for these vibrio cholerae bacteria,” Essuman stated. From environmental health, we picked some food samples, and unfortunately, some of these food samples showed negative results. We just want to believe it’s about sanitation issues.”
He cited places along the coastal belt, namely Gyegyeno, Ntsin, OLA, some spots around UCC, and KwawProw as areas where open defecation is predominant, largely due to unkept public toilet facilities in those areas.
Meanwhile, he said some measures are being implemented to manage the situation.
He especially commended the Environmental Health and Red Cross Society in the Metropolis for their contribution towards educating the public on cholera and the need to stay safe.
“The Environmental Health also did screenings for the sellers’ association. They have also done some prosecution, and there are about 38 food vendors who have been prosecuted. The Cape Coast Metro Health Directorate, in line with the Red Cross and Environmental Health, is doing its best in the fight against cholera in the metropolis.”
In addition, Mr. Essuman says community information centres have also been tasked to use their platform to educate the public daily on cholera by playing jingles and welcoming health personnel to the information centres to do same.
According to him, these measures have been effective in bringing the cases down.
“Looking at the numbers that started within the first two months of the year, and we intensifying our health education, bringing in the Red Cross and environmental health, the number of cases that trooped in daily to our facilities are reducing, and we believe that through these interventions, these cases are now coming down, we are reducing the number of cases that are taken in from facilities” said Mr. Essuman.
Aaron said the Metro Health Directorate was set to embark on a vaccination programme for its staff actively involved in the fight against cholera as well as the general public.
“We believe that since the water bodies are testing negative, and food also showing negative, and basically, it’s on sanitation. We believe that when we introduce a vaccination, it will also help reduce or help us fight against this cholera issue that we are battling within Cape Coast Metro.”
On his part, the Central Regional Minister, Eduamoah Ekow Panyin Okyere, toured the Cape Coast metropolis to assess environmental conditions and gather firsthand information on the cholera outbreak.
He expressed the need for religious leaders, particularly in churches and mosques, to play active roles in educating and spreading awareness about cholera rather than leaving the responsibility solely to health professionals.
He emphasized that those affected by the disease are often members of religious communities, urging pastors and imams to educate their congregations on the importance of sanitation and the consequences of neglecting it.
The regional minister also announced plans for a region-wide clean-up exercise aimed at ensuring a clean environment in the metropolis and the region at large.
In the Central Region, suspected cholera cases have reached 3,028, with 290 being confirmed and 19 lives being lost to the disease. This was revealed by the Acting Central Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Agnes Achiamaa Anane, at the 2024 Central Region annual performance review meeting on Wednesday, 19th March, 2025.
She indicated that the casualties had comorbidities (the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient) that worsened their health conditions, resulting in death.
She also mentioned that some health workers were infected during the outbreak in late 2024 and admitted that the recent outbreaks had put pressure on the region’s health system.
She assured that efforts are underway to improve monitoring and prevent future outbreaks, adding that more investment in health infrastructure is needed to better handle such emergencies.
Dr. Anane added, “In response, we are intensifying cholera intervention efforts, conducting mass awareness campaigns, and strengthening surveillance and early response mechanisms to contain and prevent future outbreaks.”
As part of the inventions to contain the virus, the Central Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) conducted a 4-day oral cholera vaccination campaign from April 4 to April 7, 2025.
In Cape Coast, the exercise proceeded smoothly, with 178,417 people getting vaccinated, representing 95.2% of the target population.
Mr. Aaron Essuman, the Health Promotion Officer at the Cape Coast Metro Health Directorate, said they expected to vaccinate a total of 187,413 people aged one year and above.
He urged Cape Coast residents who have not yet been vaccinated to visit any health facility to receive their cholera vaccination.
He added that stakeholders are “currently discussing the way forward to ensure every single person gets the cholera vaccination even after the exercise.”
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Source: Aba Aikins/ATLFMNEWS
