Ghanaian Techies join the fight against Ebola Using ICT

Since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was officially declared on 22nd March in Guinea, it has claimed at least 2,461 lives. This outbreak is the largest in history, with the virus’s spread to neighboring countries - Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Senegal. Despite the United Nations calling the epidemic a “crisis unparalleled in modern times”, thus far the international response has been inadequate. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) teams in West Africa are seeing critical gaps in all aspects of the response, including medical care, training of health staff, infection control, contact tracing, epidemiological surveillance, alert and referral systems, community education and mobilization. "We are honestly at a loss as to how a single, private [non-governmental organization] is providing the bulk of isolation units and beds," MSF president Joanne Liu said in a speech to the UN in Geneva on 16th September 2014.

On Friday, August 29^th 2014, a group of software developers, technologists and people who are passionate about making impact in and out of Ghana joined forces at iSpace foundation Ebola Ghana Alert was born. iSpace is a unique environment where technology start ups

can start up faster. We nurture a local network of like-minded and focused tech entrepreneurs, providing space for them to work, meet, collaborate, learn and have fun. By getting the right people together in a physical space, good things happen.

Ebola Ghana Alert is made up of a team of committed people with extensive background in IT, web development, and social media. Our aim is to provide people in Ghana and beyond with reliable information which will educate them and easy-to-use applications for the alerting and disseminating of information to the general public about the Ebola virus. The virus has claimed thousands of lives in West Africa alone, and we would like to take action to stop Ebola virus from spreading by doing our bit. Which is Educating, Tracking and Alerting the general public on everything Ebola related especially in Ghana and West Africa. We created this platform with professionals of varied backgrounds, to ensure a quick and hassle free way of accessing information via social media.

The Ebola Ghana Alert platforms are up and running check out our website http://ebolaghanaalert.org/. We have audio and video portals which have content in multiple local languages Twi , Dagaare , Sissaala , waaali , hausa and igbo that will  help educate the public on Ebola. We have a map that will help you track confirmed cases of Ebola in West Africa.  Like us on Facebook at EbolaGhanaAlert and Follow us on twitter @EbolaGhanaAlert and finally you can type *713*444# currently available on MTN and Airtel. Tentatively, there are three (3) live menus with content for quick facts, diagnosis, and daily updates. Partners of Ebola Ghana Alert are  iSpace , Thoughtworks , Oasis Websoft , Poll Afrique , Voto Mobile , Farmerline and Ghana Health Nest Send us an email if you want to support or join this great course info@ebolaghanaalert.org