Reported cases of cholera drop at La General Hospital

Reported cases of cholera at the La General Hospital in Accra have reduced drastically, the Hospital Administrator, Mr Philip Akoto, has announced.

Last Friday, only 11 new cases were reported, while on Saturday and Sunday, seven and five new cases respectively were reported.

Speaking in an interview after members of staff of Access Bank presented hospital consumables worth GH¢6,000 to the hospital, Mr Akoto described the situation as encouraging and a signal that the disease was being brought under control.

The items included quantities of disinfectants, detergents, disposable gloves and infusions.

Reduction but not over

Mr Akoto said the news of the drastic reduction was a heart-warming one but cautioned that the reduction did not mean that the disease had been eradicated. He, therefore, advised people to continue to observe environmental and, particularly, personal hygiene.

Mr Akoto attributed the decline in the cases to the intensive educational campaigns the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly had embarked on coupled with the change of whether.

Statistics

Quoting figures, he said since the first case of a patient with cholera was reported in July this year, a total of 1,726 patients with cholera had been treated in the hospital, with 16 deaths. Ten out of the 16 were brought in dead.

In all, 19 patients with cholera were on admission as of Sunday, October 5, 2014.

Commendation

Earlier, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Patrick Frimpong, who received the items commended the company for donating essential items that were critical to the hospital.

He said the hospital was constantly in need of disposable gloves as a new pair was needed at any given time the doctor or nurse attended to a patient.

Dr Frimpong explained that the hospital was inundated with patients infected with cholera because of the good care that was extended to others who had visited the facility.

“That is why all of them were rushing to this place instead of the other facilities,” he explained.

Mr Kofi Gbagbo, Head of the Bullion Unit of the bank, who spoke on behalf of the members of staff, explained that the bank heard of the hospital’s appeal for support and therefore brought the consumables as its contribution to finding a lasting solution to the spread of cholera in the country and particularly in the La vicinity.

Social responsibility

The Head of Public Affairs of the bank, Mrs Matilda Asante Asiedu, explained that the presentation was part of the corporate responsibility of the bank to offer help to the less privileged, especially within the areas where the bank operated.

She said the donation was from the East Cantonments, Osu Watson and Osu Oxford branches of the bank and commended the hospital for the manner its members of staff had handled the cases of cholera so far.