NGO creates awareness of Ebola, cholera in Upper East

The Institute of Social Research and Development, a non-governmental organisation, with support from UKAID, a British aid agency, has launched a project in the Upper East Region to create awareness of the Ebola and cholera diseases. The project will cover a period of six months.

It would impart knowledge of the disease to the people and also educate them on ways by which they can prevent the cholera and Ebola diseases through changing their behavioural patterns.

According to the project organisers, it is expected that by the end of the project, about 70 per cent of groups thought to be ‘‘at risk” would have had their knowledge broadened on the modes of transmission, signs and symptoms of the Ebola and cholera diseases. Beneficiaries

Pupils from selected schools in the Bolgatanga and Bawku municipalities, the Builsa North and South and Bawku West districts and the Talensi, Pusiga and Binduri towns in the Upper East Region have been sensitised to the diseases.

According to the Regional Coordinator for the Institute of Social Research and Development, Mr Abdul-Razak Issah, the sensitisation exercise formed part of the organisation's health promotion activities at the school level dubbed, "In-School Sensitisation Programme". He said, creating awareness among pupils and teachers was fundamental if the diseases were to be contained.

He said creating awareness of the diseases would also enhance the pupils’ personal hygiene and promote sound environmental management practices at the school and community levels.

Mr Issah urged the pupils to take control of themselves and serve as ambassadors in creating awareness of the diseases at the community level. He urged them to take note of the signs of the diseases that include high fever, vomiting, headache, diarrhoea, sore throat and bleeding.

He encouraged the pupils to wash their hands with soap frequently and report any suspected cases of either Ebola or cholera to the nearest health facility for investigation. He expressed his gratitude to the heads of the participatory schools and the pupils for making themselves available for the project.

Mr Issah further commended UKAID and the Ghana Health Service for supporting the project. About the NGO

The Institute of Social Research and Development was established as a non-governmental organisation in Ghana in 2006. It has the objective to undertake integrated development research and design and manage development programmes aimed at improving the lives of rural people.

Since its inception, the institute has implemented numerous projects mainly in the area of health particularly in the three northern regions of the country.

The organisation is working in 200 communities in the Upper East Region and has so far held stakeholders’ meetings, organised orientation courses for traditional and religious leaders and trained a number of community health nurses and surveillance volunteers in all the 13 municipalities and districts of the Upper East Region.

Source:GhanaWeb