Sekondi-Ghana, Sept. 12, GNA – Dr. Gifty Amugi, the Deputy Regional Director of Public Health at the Western has called on the affected communities in the Ammonium disaster at Anto-Boso to report any skin and other health reactions on time.
She said: “We believe this explosion came from a large ammonium based chemical and when ammonium gets into contact with any part of your body is going to cause inflammation and itches.”
Dr. Amugi told the Ghana News Agency during a Public Health Emergency Response meeting that people of the area must therefore monitor and report any change in skin conditions or respiratory problems to the nearest health care facility for emergency response.
She added: “And all that you have to do first is, if you’re in any kind of clothing, discard the clothing when you see bruises or you begin to itch.”
Dr. Amugi explained that symptoms of exposure to the ammonium substance were presented in the form of itching in the eyes, pains in your throat, chest irritations among other skin conditions.
She advised that people presenting the conditions should report immediately to any health facility adding, “we have informed all our health facilities, and they are going to take good care of you so that you don’t get any negative effects from this.”
Already, four Community based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds in the district have also been affected/
“We have gone around the nine affected communities within the Shama districts redirecting them to their nearest health facilities that are safe, made provision for beds, so that they would be able to get the needed quality services without any compromise at all,” she said.
She hinted that the Public Health Emergency Response Committee had been engaged and informed on giving out quality information to avoid further exposure and harm to the communities.
She said, “we are continuing with intensive sensitization of the public on avoiding such contacts and also how to detect.”
She advised companies to properly handle such hazardous chemicals as the region was highly industrialised and needed to learn a lot of lessons from such explosions.
Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah , the Western Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service said, the Service saw the disaster as an ongoing activity with the remnant being a critical public health challenge that must be tackled with effective collaboration and coordination from the Committee.
“We are happy for your rapid response to the short notice, and which attests to your preparedness to help us as a service to strategically work together to achieve results “.
Members of the nine affected communities were advised to avoid exposure by not visiting the site for scraps and to use protective gear.
