The La-Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly (LaNMMA) on Saturday organized a three-hour Cholera Awareness Walk through some principal streets of Madina.

The Awareness Walk started from the Assembly's yard and went through Ritz Junction, Ashaleybotwe road to the the Kelekele Polyclinic, amid brass band music.

The participating groups included the Dromo Keep-fit Club, Mesokay,Keep-fit Club and Young & Wise Keep-Fit Club, as well as food vendors and the LaNMMA's Rapid Response Initiative (RRI) members.

The participants carried placards with various inscriptions on cholera awareness, as well as the giving out of flyers.

The participants later converged at the Madina Polyclinic, where a massive cleanup exercise was embarked upon. The Sanitation Department fumigated the entire premises to rid the place of rodents and pests.

In an address by Mr. Joseph Quacoe, Head of Sanitation and Environmental Health Unit of LaNMMA, told the participant that Cholera is a faeco-oral disease and explained that one gets cholera after ingestion of contaminated water and food.

He said cholera was preventable but if one does not seek treatment after contracting the disease it could lead to death.

He said “as a country, we have come of age so we should not allow cholera to take a toll on our lives, due to poor sanitation and our inability to observe basic hygiene.

Mr. Quacoe said the purpose of the walk was to sensitize the public about the disease, and urged the participants to disseminate the information to their communities.

The Head of Sanitation said over 700 people were affected in the Municipality, including seven deaths last year as a result of the cholera outbreak.

He said the Ministry of Local Government introduced a Rapid Response Initiative (RRI) to enable all the eleven Assemblies in the Greater-Accra-Region to intensify activities on the prevention of cholera.

A number of activities such as the sensitization of food vendors, distribution of aqua tablets to households, public education about public toilets, selling unprotected food and educational programmes in schools have all been intensified to curb the disease.

Madam Priscilla Anima Siaw, LaNMMA Director of Health, urged the public to always wash their hands under running water before eating and after visiting the toilet.