Akosombo dam spillage: Victims to undergo health screening
Flood victims following the Akosombo Dam spillage are to undergo a health screening starting Tuesday, October 16.
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This is to help avert a possible outbreak of waterborne diseases in the affected areas of the floods.
In a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra based Okay FM on Monday morning (Oct 16)), the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said a medical outreach in collaboration with the Ghana Medical Association is underway in the North Tongu constituency.
“My concern is the looming health crises because of how high the water has risen and how it has entered into all areas such as landfill sites, refuse dumps, public toilet facilities. The water is now contaminated. If care is not taken, and people who are used to using this water to cook or drink do so, if they continue, we are going to have a cholera outbreak.”
Mr Ablakwa appealed to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health to step in to help avert what he terms “disastrous public health crises” in the area and other parts of the country.
“If we don’t manage the fallout from this flooding, it could lead to all kinds of other consequences which will further exacerbate the situation”, he stated.
He said thousands have been displaced and properties worth millions have been destroyed as a result of the floods from the spillage.
Describing the situation as tragic, he appealed to all stakeholders to come to the aid of the victims.
Mr Ablakwa said he was launching the “MP’s mobile relief caravan” at 1 pm on Monday, October 16.
“We shall send food items, medicines, and other essentials to the shelters we have established. Rice, maize, bags of sugar, oil, mosquito nets and all those essentials needed for survival will be made available.”
The Volta River Authority (VRA) started the controlled spillage at the Akosombo and Kpong dams, both in the Eastern Region, from September 16, 2023 following excess water in both reservoirs due to appreciable levels of rainfall.
The spillage has affected almost all the communities along the lower Volta Basin.
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