Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, is calling for critical attention to Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM), as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.

The Suame Member of Parliament (MP) described CSM as the greatest health threat to Ghana as of now because of the fatality associated with it.

The Upper West Region has been devastating, having killed 33 people in the last two months. An additional 214 receiving treatment in four hospitals in the area.

“Because this nation is engulfed in the aura of coronavirus, nobody is talking about it,” he told Nhyira FM’s Ohemeng Tawiah.

CSM is an acute inflammation of three membranes covering both brain and the spinal cord.

The development in the Upper West Region seems to have been relegated to the background due to attention on Covid-19.

“We must pay attention to that because that is a greater killer,” the Minister said.

Mr Kyei Mensah Bonsu explained that parliament is already taking steps to address the matter as MP for Wa Central, Dr Rashid Pelpuo is expected to present a paper on the situation to the House.

In a related development, the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, has bemoaned the late reporting of patients who have been infected with Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in the Region.

“The primary contributory factor to the death that we have recorded in the region is because patients report late to our health facilities,” the Ministers said.

He further explained, “They are not dying because there is no medicine. I can say without any contradiction that we have more than enough medicine to take care of CSM patients in the Upper West Region.”

The Regional Minister also stated that though they have been overwhelmed by the fight on the Covid-19 pandemic, they have not been distracted from the cases of CSM.

He urged health practitioners in the region to include education on CSM when sensitising the people of the coronavirus.