China Red Cross supports counterpart with $50,000
The China Red Cross Society has presented a cheque for $50,000 to the Ghana Red Cross Society in support of cholera education in the country.
Advertisement
The amount, which was presented through the Chinese Government, is to help fight the current cholera outbreak in the country.
The China Red Cross’s support is coming at a time when 16,527 cholera cases had been reported, out of which 128 people had died.
China’s Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Sun Baohong, who handed over the cheque to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwesi Quartey, said health was a priority area in the co-operation between China and Ghana.
She said since 2006, China had provided anti-malaria drugs to Ghana for seven consecutive years, adding that each year, China also ensured that Ghanaian medical staff were given a number of training opportunities.
Response
Mr Quartey who received the cheque on behalf of the Ghana Red Cross Society, thanked the China Red Cross Society and the Chinese Government for its sensitivity to problems in Ghana as well as on the African continent.
He said China had always been supportive of programmes and projects in the country.
The President of the Ghana Red Cross Society, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo, said there was the need for a massive national education campaign on hygiene to ensure that cholera outbreaks and other hygiene-related diseases and infections became a thing of the past.
Update on outbreak
As of September 14, the cholera outbreak had affected eight out of the country’s 10 regions with a total of 16,527 reported cases and 128 deaths.
The Greater Accra Region leads with 12,120 reported cases and 97 deaths occurring in 15 districts, followed by the Central Region with 1,024 cases and 21 deaths in 12 districts and the Eastern Region with 845 reported cases and four deaths in 15 districts.
The Volta Region had recorded 237 cases and six deaths in five districts; Ashanti Region had recorded 160 cases and two deaths in 25 districts; Western Region, 93 cases with no deaths in eight districts; Brong-Ahafo, 47 cases and one death in 10 districts, and the Upper East Region with one reported case in one district.
The outbreak has spread to 91 districts in eight out of the 10 regions in the country with no cases reported from the Upper West and the Northern regions.
The most affected districts are: Agona West, Awutu Senya East, Nsawam, La Dadekotopon, Ledzokuku-Krowor, La-Nkwantanang-Madina, Shai Osudoku and Tema.
Writer's email: [email protected]