The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has often highlighted the importance of Ghana practically eliminating cholera in his speeches. A deadly outbreak in Malawi confirmed that he was right.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia often mentions the many achievements of his administration during his speeches. A person who pays minute attention to detail, Bawumia leaves nothing out when making a list, no matter how mundane.
The Vice President will mention every little thing that he believes the NPP has been able to improve in Ghanaian society, and critics will jump on him for being too literal and listing things that he thinks are not important.
One achievement critics often underestimate is the eradication of cholera. Time and again on the stump, especially when talking about water and sanitation, the Veep would insist that since coming into office, the NPP has eradicated the disease that has killed us until now, cholera.
While many are tempted to laugh because Bawumia is once again very mysterious and literal in the definition of achievement, the deadly cholera outbreak that invaded the neighboring continent of Malawi highlights exactly how important it is to keep the disease at bay and why Bawumia has more than the right to celebrate Ghana has ever had to deal with menace again.
Malawi cholera outbreak
The East African country of Malawi is currently in the midst of its worst cholera outbreak in two decades, a disaster that has so far claimed 750 lives (and counting).
The outbreak began in March 2022 but worsened during the holidays.
Earlier this month, authorities in the country suspended primary and secondary schools in two major cities – the capital, Lilongwe, and the commercial centre, Blantyre – for two more weeks after the Christmas holidays.
On Thursday, January 12, 2023, Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda ordered the closure of many businesses that do not have safe water, toilets and hygienic waste disposal facilities, and announced a ban on the sale of cooked food.
“We continue to record an increasing number of cases across the country, despite signs of transmission and deaths in some areas,” Chiponda said in a statement and called for adherence to sanitation and hygiene measures.
The minister previously announced that 17 people have died out of 589 new cases of waterborne diseases “in the last 24 hours.” Malawi has recorded 22,759 cases since the start of the outbreak in March last year.
Currently, about 15 people die every day in Malawi due to the outbreak, and nearly 1,000 are still hospitalized.
At this moment, 14 African countries are fighting a cholera epidemic. Africa CDC director Ahmed Ogwell Ouma said 393 deaths out of more than 4,000 new cases were reported over the past week on the continent.
Epidemiologist Adamson Muula told the Associated Press (AP) that the outbreak is affecting “the poor” who lack access to safe water and sanitation.
“Those who have a working water closet, drinkable water from the tap at home and those who strengthen themselves by not eating from questionable places are not at risk,” said Muula, a lecturer at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Blantyre. He blamed the ruling elite for failing to invest in infrastructure.
“People who are not served by the municipal water supply system. People who drink in the bush and other open places, drink from open water sources and people who live in communities where different water companies can fail to provide tap water for several- many days, that is affected,” said Muula. “Such diseases are difficult to control because the bourgeoisie is not worried.”
The situation in Ghana
As a description of what other African countries have become clear, highlights the importance of forcing Bawumia on the importance of Ghana eradicating deadly diseases.
Annual outbreaks of cholera used to be the norm in Ghana until significant investment in water and sanitation by the ruling NPP stopped.
The Vice President stated this during a recent speech at the “All System Go Africa” Symposium on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
Dr Bawumia was the guest of honor at the symposium, which brought together African Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) experts to brainstorm on how best to make the WASH Sector on the Continent more responsive to people’s needs.
Bawumia said many projects have been undertaken by the NPP government to improve water and sanitation in the country since he assumed office.
He named projects including Upper East Water Supply Project, Yendi Water Supply project. Tamale Water Supply Project, Damongo Water Supply Project, Wenchi Water Supply Project, Sunyani Water Supply Project, Keta Water Supply Project, Sekondi-Takoradi Water Supply Project, and Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA)/ Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area Water and Sanitation Project.
Bawumia said all these projects will result in an additional 4.3 million people having access to portable water in Ghana.
“The intervention in the water sub-sector is expected to result in an additional 4.3 million beneficiaries having access to potable water. According to the 2021 Ghana Population and Housing Census on water and sanitation coordinated by the Ghana Statistical Service, the number of households that currently have access to toilet facilities increased from 33% to 59.3%. Regarding water, the percentage of households with access to basic drinking water has experienced a significant increase from 79% in 2018 to 87.7% in 2021. Bawumia continued.
“These improvements have brought significant benefits, no cases of cholera have been recorded in the last 5 years…Ghana’s achievements are possible, such as in the sanitation space, due to the Government’s decision to continue to support Public-Private. Partnership options in the execution of socio-economic infrastructure,” he said.
As shown by the many problems in Malawi and elsewhere on the continent, lack of access to clean and portable drinking water has been a major factor in the ongoing cholera outbreaks.
The work done by the NPP government in the sector has solved many of the challenges that are common in Ghana, with the added benefit of all but eliminating cholera cancer.
The lesson here is that no health-related achievement should be underestimated. As we saw in Malawi, there is a very dark alternative to Ghana’s current situation.
Dr. Bawumia often points to his achievements in digitization and other sectors that are scorned by critics but in the long run, he often proves to be beneficial for these achievements.
Critics can mock and jape when Bawumia said Ghana has increased access to toilet facilities from 33% to 59.3% but we are seeing elsewhere, this has real life consequences that are far from funny.
As with digitization, Bawumia seems to have the foresight to see the benefits of a movement that the uninitiated cannot understand. One suspects that with time, he will be justified in the digital agenda as he has considered the importance of water and sanitation.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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