The Oti Regional Minister, John Kwadwo Gyapong, has expressed grave concern over the alarming surge in typhoid cases in the region, warning that the situation poses a major public health challenge.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Tuesday, August 26, Mr. Gyapong revealed that the region recorded 10,233 confirmed cases of typhoid in the first quarter of 2025, representing about 5% of the Oti population; however, figures have shot up due to poor sanitation.
The Minister further disclosed that a follow-up investigation by the Regional Health Directorate has revealed an even more troubling situation. According to him, the number of confirmed cases has now more than doubled to 22,261 within the same year.
“This is a problematic thing, and it is creating a lot of issues in the Oti Region. In the first quarter of this year, we had around 10,233 confirmed cases, which means that about 5% of the Oti population has typhoid. That is the report we have from the Environmental Secretariat in the Oti Region. If we are to break it down, the 20 people you find in the Oti Region, two of them have typhoid.
He noted that in response to the initial findings, the Environmental and Sanitation Secretariat had embarked on a six-month campaign across the region to educate residents on the causes and prevention of typhoid.
However, despite these efforts, the figures continue to rise.
“The scary part is that after this report, we organised a meeting about the rise and asked the Health Directorate to search, and the report they are even giving us now is scarier than before. The first quarter of this year alone has pushed the number from our 10,233 to 22,261 confirmed cases.
“When we had the first information about what was going on in regards to typhoid, we quickly sent our Environmental and Sanitation Secretariat to go down to the Oti Region to advise people about this sickness, and we have done that for six months, and the report is still not encouraging,” he said.
Meanwhile, a new task force has been directed to embark on a door-to-door campaign to educate the public about the disease in order to help control the surge.
