Free treatment for swine flu Free treatment for swine flu Free Treatment for Swine Flu (Page 45)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE Ministry of Health (MoH) has announced that the treatment of H1N1 influenza in all public hospitals is free of charge.
The move, which is intended to encourage victims of the disease to access health care promptly, comes in the wake of latest reports indicating that cases of the disease have increased from two to seven.
In an interview in Accra on Monday, the Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, said the ministry had held discussions with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on the release of funds to strengthen the country's capacity to deal resolutely with the gradual spread of the new influenza.
With the release of the funds, he said, the MoH would equip the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), currently designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as central laboratory for testing of the H1N1 virus in the country.
In all the seven cases so far recorded, he said the people involved either travelled outside the country or had contact with people who had travelled outside the country.
He, however, noted that globally, things had not reached a stage to call for a ban on travelling but took the opportunity to advise people who returned to Ghana and presented any flu-like symptoms to report immediately to the nearest health facility for test and treatment.
For his part, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, told the Daily Graphic that apart from the first two victims who were kept and treated in a hospital, the five new cases, made up of a family of four and another who recently returned from abroad, were receiving treatment in their homes.
He explained that the patients were isolated and being cared for by health personnel who were provided with protective kits to avoid being infected.
Dr Sory noted that so far no case had been detected within but cautioned the public of the possibility of cases to emanate from within, as people continued to come in contact with the influenza virus.
He asked the public not to take things for granted but rather observe personal hygiene as a way of protecting themselves from the deadly disease.
The Director-General explained that the H1N1 virus was transmitted through heavy droplets from infected persons which could either fall on the ground or settle on body parts or objects which when touched, could find its way into the eye, nose or mouth of others.
He said if people who were infected with the virus would do well to cover their mouths when coughing and also their noses when sneezing, the disease could effectively be contained.
Apart from the other known symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, chills and body aches, he said an H1N1 Influenza patient usually had high temperature which when observed, could help people to suspect the presence of the disease.