On Wednesday
10thSeptember 2014,the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and Blogging
Ghana held a forum at the Bloggers Ghana hub to sensitize the public on Ebola
and Cholera prevention and management.
Dr.Ayegua
Hagan Seneadza, a representative of GMA explained that, Cholera is an acute
diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the
bacterium Vibrio Cholerae. Food can be contaminated by water that has cholera
germs in it or food prepared or handled by a person sick with cholera. She
added that, every year, there was an estimated 3–5 million cholera cases in the
world with 100,000–120,000 deaths (WHO).
Speaking
on the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Dr. Ayegua noted that it is a severe often
fatal illness with a death rate of up to 90% and affects both humans and
non-human primates.
The Ebola virus contains five species which are:
•Bundibugyoebolavirus
(BEBOV)
•Reston
ebolavirus (RESTV)
•Sudan
ebolavirus (SEBOV)
•Tai
Forest ebolavirus (TAFV)
•Zaire
ebolavirus (ZEBOV)
As
of 6th September 2014, there has been a total of 3,944 suspected cases and
2,097 confirmed deaths of EVD.
The
hardest hit countries are neighboring Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Ebola
virus is spread through human-to-human via direct contact with bodily fluids such
as blood, saliva, vomit, semen, urine, stools, and sweat containing the virus.
Ebola is also transmitted by contact with corpses of infected persons or
animals and contaminated surfaces/objects.
She
cited a couple of interventions being undertaken to control the Cholera
epidemic and to prevent an Ebola Outbreak. These included among others educational
campaigns with the use of information vans, electronic, print and digital media,
media briefing and sensitization, clean-up exercises in the cities,
surveillance at the ports of entry and preparing health personnel to take care
of Ebola patients.
In
the end she mentioned that, regular hand washing with soap under running safe
water and regular application of hand sanitizer in cases where you do not readily
have water were ways of reducing the risk of Cholera and Ebola infections.
Again she said, food must be cooked (especially animal products) properly and
one must wear gloves and use the appropriate personal protective equipment
(PPE) when caring for an ill person especially in the case of Ebola.
Gazie
Decker, Head of Brand Development and Activations at PZ Cussons announced that the
business was partnering with the GMA on this forum as part of an initiative to
drive awareness and educate the general public on Cholera and Ebola. He
indicated that as a Business, with operations in this part of the world where
certain habits and cultures normally predispose people to some of these
dangerous infections, PZ Cussons thought it a laudable idea to embark on such
an initiative. He also added that PZ Cussons and the GMA were, as part of this
project, working on other platforms, to not only educate but also to give free samples
of Camel and Carex products to consumers. This is especially beneficial at a
time in the history of this country where we have recorded over 5,000 cases of
Cholera in a little over 2 months.
Stephen
Boadi, Head of Digital at PZ Cussons also indicated the business had adopted
social media as one of the platforms in driving this CSR agenda. “Our Facebook
pages, Carex Ghana and Camel Antiseptic Ghana are dedicated to teaching hand
hygiene and promoting germ free environment” he added.
For more information, visit Carex Ghana
(Facebook), Camel Antiseptic Ghana (Facebook) and www.carex.com.gh. Follow the
campaign online at #NoChoBo
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