Some of the items included 540 cholera vaccines, 3000 tablets of chlorine
The Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, has presented various health emergency response relief items to the Central Regional Coordinating Council to tackle the cholera resurgence in the region.
The items included 540 cholera vaccines, 3,000 tablets of chlorine, knapsack engine-powered spraying machines, personal protective equipment, Veronica buckets, and handwashing stands.
The items are for onward distribution to health facilities to contain the outbreak, which began in October 2024 and spread to more than 36 districts across five regions—Greater Accra, Central, Western, Eastern, and Ashanti.
The region also benefited from a health volunteers training program by the Ghana Red Cross Society, with 80 out of the 250 trainees coming from the region.
The volunteers are operating in the Greater Accra, Western, Ashanti, and Central Regions.
The Central Region recorded more than 3,000 suspected cholera cases, with 260 confirmed. Four health workers were infected in late 2024, and 19 people died from the disease.
Cholera is a highly fatal disease that spreads through contaminated food and water, leading to severe diarrhea, dehydration, and, if left untreated, death.
In severe cases, a healthy individual can succumb within hours due to rapid fluid loss.
Although entirely preventable through access to clean water, proper sanitation, and good hygienic practices, cholera continues to pose a recurring public health challenge, particularly in areas with inadequate waste management and limited healthcare services.
The ongoing outbreak has placed immense strain on health facilities, stretching both medical staff and resources to their limits.
The Red Cross volunteers will operate in three districts in the region, including Mfantseman, Cape Coast, and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Cape Coast, Solomon Gbolo Gayori, Secretary-General of the GRCS, said the interventions were essential relief measures to enhance the public health education drive and containment efforts.
He said the GRCS had been at the forefront of the response, providing sanitation resources and engaging communities to curb the spread of the outbreak.
It has implemented multi-faceted interventions in the region through house-to-house campaigns by trained volunteers and the promotion of handwashing practices.