Residents in North East Region have been urged to remain vigilant to report immediately suspected cholera symptoms to health facil­ities in the region.

This forms part of proactive steps by the Ghana Health Ser­vice (GHS) to prevent any poten­tial cholera outbreak in various communities in the region.

The Health Promotion Divi­sion Manager of the GHS, Ms Patience Boahen, stated this here in Gambaga at a media engage­ment.

The purpose of the media engagement was to educate the people on their platforms the need for them to report any symptoms of cholera in their areas for early treatment.

She said it was important for residents to report timely for treatment of diarrhea and its

related symptoms, stating that “Although the North East Region has not recorded any cholera cases yet but we cannot also wait for it to strike before we start any actions.”

Ms Boahen noted that the rains had just started and one of the things that spreads the disease was an open defecation.

She added that the faeces were going to be washed with the rain and some of them would end up in their river bodies where mem­bers of the community would fetch the water to drink, and that could be a potential source of cholera

She further mentioned that her outfit was encouraging the residents to seek medical atten­tion promptly if they experience any symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, or dehydration.

Ms Boahen indicated that they believed in working together as a team to prevent any outbreak in the region.

“Our outfit is doing all this education as a preventive mea­sure against any possible out­break in the region to prevent residents from getting the chol­era disease,” she emphasised.

This, she stressed, was im­portant for the media to help them educate the residents to be aware of the symptoms of the disease, and for early detection and report to the health facility for immediate actions