Joselyn Dumas Takes ‘Xcholera Campaign’ To Okaishie Market

Ghanaian actress and Television host Joselyn Dumas has launched the second phase of the “Xcholera campaign”.  The campaign which started late August 2014 is to raise awareness on the outbreak of cholera in Ghana which had infected over 5000 people since June 2014 , and cases continue to increase daily. The campaign, which was being run on social media has reached the second stage which involves market storms. With these market storms, the team goes out to educate the public on safe practices to avoid cholera. Target areas are markets, hospitals and small communities that are worst hit by the menace. The campaign takes a different approach from the traditional cleaning up of dirty areas to the creation of awareness on why the public needs to practice personal and environmental hygiene. It is about sensitizing the public to understand the need to clean their environment and getting them committed to staying clean. On 17th September, the team with support from public health personel shall visit the Okaishie Market to educate the public on safe practices.  The general public may volunteer for this market storm and donate money to help worst hit areas through MTN mobile money number 0244730078. It is her expectation to get a substantial number of people to join her create this awareness and encourage hygienic practices in the society. The rules of engagement are simple. Commit to safe and healthy practices that prevent cholera and show support on social media by taking a picture with the right hand(clean) covering the mouth.  This is to signify the blocking of contaminated food from entering one’s mouth. Individuals are then expected to post the pictures on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) using the hashtags #Xcholera and #KeepCleanGH, adding their personalized messages to the pictures. The messages should however be geared towards keeping our environments clean and eradicating cholera. Cholera is a disease characterized by severe diarrhoea accompanied by vomiting. Transmission is mostly from consuming contaminated food and water caused by poor sanitation. It is Joselyn’s hope that with this campaign, the number of lives being lost to cholera will be reduced substantially.