<<Print>>

The Mayor of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, has presented assortments of items to the Korle-Bu Polyclinic to help mitigate the short-falls the clinic is bedeviled with in the wake of the Cholera outbreak. The items included; 100 boxes of bottled water, 19 boxes of soap, 40 mattresses, 40 blankets, and 59 buckets. The current cholera pandemic which is sweeping the various communities is putting much pressure on the various hospitals and clinics which have to contain and deal with the situation. The situation is not different at the Korle-Bu Polyclinic. As at the today, when officials from the A.M.A together with the Mayor, visited the clinic, patients were receiving treatment on benches and in wheel chairs. Dr. Gerhard Ofori Amankwa at the Polyclinic said the spill over of patients compelled management to make available alternative wards to contain other patients. He also indicated that, much is being done to construct toilet and bathroom facilities for patients within the hospital so as to prevent them from accessing such facilities outside the clinic- a situation he described as not "ideal". Dr Amankwa explained that the situation the clinic is faced with now needs serious attention and that depends on the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to provide permanent facility that would contain all the cholera cases that come to their attention. He also averred that, the Polyclinic records on daily basis, about 70 cases more than the bed capacity of 40. Although he indicated that the hospital is doing munch to save the situation, he could not say whether the situation would be minimized any time soon. But, he stressed that there was the need for all and sundry to observe good personal hygiene, and called on city authorities to ensure that the laws on food vending is applied. He also called on the AMA to ensure that all drains are covered to prevent the easy spread of the illness. "We should all ensure that the right things are done, we need to observe good hygiene. Our staff motivated and other facilities provided for us to be able to address the shortfall and the challenges we face," he said. In an interview, Dr Amankwa revealed that the Clinic had so far managed well over 1500 cholera patients with 4 deaths recorded in the clinic. Doing the presentation of the items, the Mayor, Dr Okoe Vanderpuije said the Assembly would also donate an amount of GH�1000,00 to the Polyclinic to assist management in the construction of the toilet and bathrooms facilities. The Mayor of Accra, who was passionate about ensuring that the end to the Cholera situation comes soonest, indicated that there was the need to raise environmental consciousness among the people to ensure conducive environment. Dr Vanderpuije said majority of the people have shirked their responsibility of keeping their surroundings clean, on the shoulders of the AMA forgetting that the biggest challenge about environmental sanitation is rested on the people themselves. He called for more commitment from stakeholders to ensure compliance of environmental standards and promised to ensure that most facilities that are in deficit at the Korle-Bu Polyclinic are provided within one week. The Accra Mayor gave the assurance that government had given its fullest support to make the fight against cholera living testimony to the memory of those who contributed to its success.