Accra, 26th September, 2014 -The World Health
Organization (WHO) has signed an agreement with the Norwegian Government
for the release of 6,200,000 Norwegian Kroner (approximately US$
1,000,000.00 ) to support WHO’s Action Plan for Ebola Outbreak
Preparedness in Ghana.
Signing the agreement in Accra today, the
WHO Country Representative to Ghana, Dr Magda Robalo recalled that WHO
declared the current Ebola outbreak as a public health event of
international con-cern which threatens global security. She expressed
WHO’s gratitude to the Norwegian government for the support towards the
fight against Ebola, especially focusing on preparedness activities in
Ghana. She also assured representatives of the Norwegian Government
that the funds will be used to implement critical activities in line
with the Ghana’s Preparedness Plan to Prevent an Ebola Outbreak and the
WHO Ebola Response Roadmap.
In her statement, Her Excellency the
Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Hege Hertzberg stressed the commitment
of her government to support Ghana in its preparedness efforts. She
applauded WHO’S coordinating role in the response to the outbreak and
highlighted the importance of partner-ships in tackling health
emergencies such as this, which have the potential to jeopardize
important de-velopment gains.
Speaking on behalf of the Honorable
Minister of Health, Dr Afisah Zakariah, Director, Policy, Plan-ning,
Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Health indicated that in as
much as Ghana’s pre-paredness efforts were still ongoing there was the
need for further support to strengthen surveillance systems, train front
line health workers in early diagnosis and case management, equip
treatment cen-ters and isolation wards and also intensify public
sensitization.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Norwegian
government will release the funds to WHO as a do-nation towards
augmenting its efforts in Ebola preparedness activities in Ghana.
Specifically, the do-nation will be channeled to supporting effective
coordination of preparedness and response activities; strengthen
capacity for active surveillance, early detection, investigation and
reporting. Further appli-cation of the funding will be in the area of
capacity strengthening for laboratory diagnosis, case man-agement,
contact tracing and infection prevention and control. Effective risk
communication, public information and education interventions will also
be prioritized.
The implementation of activities is expected to
commence in September, 2014 and would last for a period of one year,
ending in September, 2015.
Story:WHO
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