The Volta Regional Health Directorate is concerned about the possibility of an epidemic of waterborne diseases as a result of the floods that occurred in various Volta Region districts.
Numerous public restrooms and open places of convenience were submerged in flood water after the Akosombo Dam burst.
Stella Kumedzro, the Volta Regional Environmental Health Officer, discussed the situation in an interview and pleaded with the government to give the affected comunities access to clean drinking water.
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“Most of the people I saw still use that surface water for cooking, bathing, and other household chores. So the implications for public health are that it will trigger water-related diseases, skin rashes, diarrhea, typhoid, and so on. And so it is a very terrible situation at hand. I want to appeal to all well-meaning Ghanaians, our wonderful development partners, to come to the aid of residents of Mepe in the North Tongu district,” she said.
North Tongu District Health Director Michael Kofi Zigah stated that the flooding calamity is affecting the district’s capacity to deliver healthcare.
“Currently, a lot of communities have been displaced in the district. Once communities are displaced, they will not have access to the regular facilities they used to have access to. They will not have access to portable water, sanitary facilities, and routine health services,” he said.
“Because it is more or less like a campout. And that is affecting service delivery and the health of the people. But the fortunate thing is that as a district, we managed to operationalize a mobile clinic here,” he added.
