(Cholera and other diseases re-surface in Accra)

Barely two weeks into the onset of the rains and damp weather conditions in some parts of the country, the Ridge Hospital in Accra has recorded more than 4,664 cases of cholera, malaria, sickle cell, asthma and diarrhoea.
A medical officer at the Outpatient Department (OPD) and Emergency Unit of the hospital, Dr Angela Oduro-Afriyie, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, said around this time ailments resulting from the rains and the damp weather were very common.
She said most patients with diarrhoea came from congested areas such as Tudu, Chorkor and Nima and attributed the problem to the lack of proper drainage and poor sanitation.
Dr Oduro-Afriyie said sanitation at such places was not good enough for the maintenance and promotion of health during such periods of the year.
She advised members of the public to desist from buying food from unhygienic places and also ensure that they always ate hot foods.
In respect of the sickle cell disease, Dr Oduro-Afriyie said the disease occurred when the blood in a person was not able to flow through the red blood cells.
She advised sicklers to endeavour to wear clothes which would keep their bodies warm and also take their medications strictly as advised by their doctors to prevent any "crisis".
She also advised asthmatic patients to avoid strong winds accompanied with dust because too much dust made breathing difficult for them.
She said the hospital had found it difficult to accommodate patients there as a result of their large number.
She said the facilities at the hospital were inadequate to take care of the increasing number of patients and indicated that the situation compelled it to ask some of the patients to go home and come back the next day.
However, Dr Oduro-Afriyie said the patients were so ill that they preferred to wait for their turn, no matter how long they waited.