The Minority in Parliament have said that Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) will claim more lives than the Coronavirus if measures are not put in place to combat the disease.
According to them, government must pay critical attention to making provisions to combat the disease which has so far taken over 33 lives in the Northern part of the country.
In an interview with the press, Member of Parliament for Juaboso Constituency, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, said: “As I speak to you now, about 33 people have died out of meningitis in the Upper West Region and some other recorded cases in the five Northern Regions and therefore we think that government must pay particular attention to those regions and as far as meningitis is concerned.
“I believe government should be more proactive and as I have already indicated, it happens almost every year when temperatures in the Northern part of the country become very high and consistently, we’ve made provisions for that particular disease.” He added.
More than 200 cases of Meningitis have been recorded at some health facilities across the 11 districts of the region. The disease, which leads to serious long-term consequences such as deafness, epilepsy, hydrocephalus, or cognitive deficits, especially if not treated quickly has not grabbed national attention due to the COVID-19 scare.
Meanwhile, Infectious Disease Specialist at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) Dr. Elizabeth Agyare, has said that CSM is even more deadly than COVID-19.
According to her CSM kills about 40% of patients while COVID-19 does about 3%.
“Coronavirus has taken our attention so much that we’re not focusing much on CSM. I fear CSM than coronavirus.” She said told host of Central Morning Show on GBC Radio Central.
On the other hand, Mintah Akandoh noted that due to the high cost of the antibiotics for the cure of meningitis, most health facilities are unable to stock their pharmacies with some making claims that the National Health Insurance Authority owes them.
