Ghana Cholera Response

Tapped to lead coordination for USAID-funded projects and affiliated NGOs to respond to Ghana’s rapidly expanding cholera outbreak in 2014, Global Communities convened over a dozen international NGOs in less than 48 hours to assess needs and determine response activities. Using our GIS capacity, we worked with the group to map all eight affected regions to locate NGO actors and activities, and identify areas of service overlap and gaps. With this information, Global Communities, through USAID and with the support of the Ministry of Health, launched a three-week distribution campaign to provide water purification tablets to more than 500,000 individuals in some of the hardest-hit communities. This successful coordination of NGO actors continued throughout 2015 and also included the promotion of healthy behaviors such as handwashing to stem the spread of cholera, targeting communities that were epicenters of previous outbreaks. The current USAID-funded WASH for Health Project also responds to cholera outbreaks as needed.
Read more about our global capacity in preventing, mitigating and responding to outbreaks of infectious disease.