Disease outbreaks stem from system failures, not border issues - Prof. Ernest Kenu:

Professor Ernest Kenu, Head of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the University of Ghana, asserts that infectious diseases continue to spread within Ghana primarily due to systemic failures in the country's health and sanitation infrastructure, rather than inadequate border controls. Delivering his inaugural lecture, Kenu highlighted that disease-causing germs spread silently through contaminated water, poor sanitation, and overcrowded conditions, exacerbated by weak surveillance systems.

Kenu traced Ghana's cholera outbreaks to internal factors, noting that the first documented case in 1970 was linked to a Ghanaian fisherman returning from Togo, not directly to a traveler crossing the border. He pointed out that poor sanitation continues to fuel the disease, with Greater Accra recording over 20,000 cholera cases in 2014 alone. He also cautioned that healthcare facilities themselves can become transmission centers, as seen during a 2016 cholera outbreak where visiting a treatment center increased infection risk significantly.

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Disease-causing germs move silently through contaminated water, poor sanitation, overcrowded spaces and weak surveillance systems.

Addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenu explained that while the virus entered Ghana through travelers, its spread was facilitated by factors like asymptomatic cases and poor adherence to hygiene protocols. Studies showed a high percentage of infected individuals were asymptomatic, allowing unnoticed transmission. He also noted delays in laboratory test results as a contributing factor. Kenu stressed the importance of simple interventions like handwashing, which can significantly reduce diarrheal diseases, and advocated for integrating disease surveillance into existing systems for greater efficiency.

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simple handwashing with soap and running water could reduce diarrhoeal diseases by between 32 and 48 per cent and provide a return of two dollars for every one dollar invested in handwashing programmes.