A growing health concern is quietly unfolding at Aburi Girls’ Senior High School as dozens of students are reportedly being treated frequently for urinary tract infections (UTIs) -a crisis parents and health workers trace to the deplorable state of the school’s washroom facilities.
According to parents, their wards are being sent almost daily to the Presbyterian Hospital (Kom Clinic) for medical treatment with symptoms of UTI, including abdominal pain, fever, and frequent urination.
“My daughter has been on medication twice in just this term alone,” said a visibly distressed parent who asked to remain anonymous.”
She insists “the schools bathrooms are often unusable, dirty, or simply without water. The situation is unacceptable.”
Sources within the hospital confirm a pattern. “It’s hard to ignore the spike in UTI cases from Aburi Girls. On some days, we attend five or more girls from the school,” said a senior nurse at the hospital adding that “It’s become a trend, and frankly, it’s alarming.”
Students who managed to speak on condition of anonymity painted a dire picture. “We try to hold it in for as long as we can during the day,” one final-year student said. “Sometimes, the toilets are so bad that even going to the washroom feels like a punishment.”
Parents are calling for immediate intervention from the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ministry of Education, and other relevant stakeholders.
“We are not asking for luxuries,” said another concerned parent. “Just clean, functioning toilets and running water. It’s a basic human right and a minimum requirement for the health of our daughters.
Attempts to get a formal response from school authorities and the district education directorate were unsuccessful as of press time yesterday.
