AMA Embarks On Cholera Education In Schools

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly is to sponsor a course of study on sanitation in basic schools in the country to help schoolchildren learn about the environment and their health needs. The move is intended to help children appreciate the reasons to keep their environments clean and also acknowledge benefits that would accrue to themselves and the country as a whole. The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Numo Blafo III, made this known when he led a team of health education officers and some metro directors of education round some schools in Accra to create awareness of cholera. The team visited the Mamprobi Sempe �3� and Korle Gonno �3 & 4� cluster of schools. Cholera outbreak This year, about nine cases of cholera have so far been confirmed within the Accra Metropolis. The AMA has, therefore, embarked on a programme to fumigate toilets in some selected communities in the metropolis to prevent further outbreak of the disease. Ambassadors of change While addressing pupils of the Mamprobi Sempe �3� Primary School in Accra, Numo Blafo asked them to be agents of change in their various communities. He advised them to wash their hands always before eating. He further urged them to ensure good personal hygiene as that would go a long way to make them stay healthy. �Always wash your hands before eating and carry the message on cholera to your families and friends,� he said. Numo Blafo also urged food vendors to join in the fight against cholera and encouraged them to see to it that food that was sold to the schoolchildren was warm at all times. He suggested to them to keep their surroundings clean and also wash their hands with soap and running water anytime they visited restrooms before food was sold to the children. Stay healthy The Acting Metro Co-ordinator for School Health Education, Mrs Theodora Jonah, counselled schoolchildren to stay healthy and desist from eating foods or taking in drinks that are contaminated. She further urged them to always insist on eating food that was warm, stop littering their surroundings and make sure they adhered to the sanitation rules in their schools.