Parliament wants Kumasi Academy and environs declared Public Health Emergency Zone

The Minister of Health, Kweku Agyeman-Manu, has cautioned the public to be measured in their commentary on the mysterious deaths at KUMACA so as not to create fear and panic.

He said uninformed utterances stand to aggravate the situation.

Mr. Agyeman-Manu said the latest move by some parents in sending their children home has also not helped matters.

He told Parliament that the students who are in school have been put on Chemotherapy and other interventions that can prevent further infection to students in the school as they await the results from Noguchi Memorial Research Institute.

He said the Ghana Health Service has also engaged WHO for assistance and they have sent a Technical team to support the Ghanaian team to investigate the cause of deaths.

The Minister of Health said a number of Public Health interventions have been put in place to curd to curb the spread.

These include placing a medical officer in the school, intensifying surveillance in the Kumasi Municipality, as well as referring suspected cases to the KNUST Hospital.

The MP for Asawasi, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, appealed to the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service to track and monitor parents who rushed to the school to pick their wards in order not to escalate the outbreak.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu said even as specialists work on the samples to know the cause of deaths, the situation should be declared a Public Health Emergency Situation.

The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, urged the Ministry of Health to fast track processes to determine the cause of deaths and necessary treatment applied immediately.

The First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei- Owusu, gave the Minister of Health, Kweku Agyeman-Manu up to the 20th of this month to report back to the House on any development in Kumasi Academy which will be of national interest.