Ashanti Region steps up readiness to contain possible outbreak of yellow fever

The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate has strengthened its Epidemic Preparedness Plan to contain a possible outbreak of Yellow Fever in the Region as more regions keep recording cases.

Training and resourcing of health staff and facilities have been stepped up to ensure early detection of the disease to facilitate prompt response in the event that a case is recorded in the Region.

Dr. Michael Rockson Adjei, the Deputy Regional Director of Health Services in charge of Public Health told the Ghana News agency in an interview that the Region had always been prepared for epidemics with a permanent plan in place.

The Directorate, he said, had activated its preparedness plan since the first case of Yellow Fever was recorded in the Northern part of the country recently.

“We have trained our staff to be alert and lookout for suspected cases in our facilities as a proactive measure to identify cases as soon as possible,” he indicated.

He said over 200 samples of suspected cases of Yellow Fever had already been taken but all of them came out negative.

The Deputy Director said the Directorate was also liaising with Zoomlion Ghana Limited to spray most mosquito breeding grounds through Larval Source Management as part of strategies to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

He counseled the public to keep a clean environment and urged those working in areas with stagnant waters to wear protective clothes and also apply mosquito repellant, saying that the kind of mosquitoes that spread the disease bite in the daytime.

The public should also desist from self-medication but rather seek medical attention in health facilities when they are sick to ensure appropriate diagnosis of their conditions for effective treatment.

Source: GNA