Ghana To Administer Cholera Vaccine

As part of government�s effort of fighting the spread of cholera in the country, the Deputy Minister of Health, Victor Bampoe has revealed plans are underway to seek World Health Organization�s (WHO) support for the introduction of cholera vaccines to curb the outbreak nationwide. Within three months of the first reported case in the country, nationwide statistics of the outbreak stands at 10,000 reported cases which have so far claimed 92 lives living over 52 districts exposing problems in the health facilities in the country. Disclosing this on various media platforms in the country yesterday, Dr. Bampoe said government is determined to ensure that the rate of transmission is considerably brought under control through the introduction of the oral cholera vaccine. �We have discussed with WHO to do a rapid assessment to see whether we can use the cholera vaccine to break the back of this epidemic. �What we are thinking of now is that because the outbreak has not spread to the three northern regions, we can use the vaccine to create a barrier or use it in areas which have reported high cases in order to vaccinate people,� he said. Emphasizing on environmental health, he said it is quite disheartening to record cholera cases in the modern era stating that it is �clearly unacceptable for people to be dying of a disease that should not be with us.� Dr. Bampoe assured all Ghanaians that the Ministry of Health with support from other sector ministries is working hard to ensure that the outbreak is brought to its lowest level. �We probably would see or report more cases but the most important thing is how to control it, whatever we need to do would be done to ensure that we reduce it controllably,� he stated.