The Ebola centre in Tema is ready.
It is part of three major centers being put up by the government of Ghana to
deal with people who may contract the disease in the event of an outbreak.
“Everything is set in there and can
be used in case we have an Ebola patient,” said Tony Goodman, the Public
Relations Officer for Ministry of Health.
The 10-bed capacity structure was
built with funds from the GHC 6 million released by the
Ghana government to prepare
the nation for any Ebola outbreak.
The remaining centers for the middle
and northern belts are also expected to be ready soon.
The structure which is situated
close to the entrance of the Tema General hospital is made of tarpaulin
supported at the edges with metallic polls.
It has all the facilities needed in
a medical ward including a decontamination chamber, corpse carrier bags,
goggles, infrared thermometers, and nasal oxygen tubes, among others.
Ghana which is currently hosting a United Nations
Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), has so far tested
over 80 suspected cases of Ebola which have all proven negative.
The country has received support
from some other nations including the Japanese government which has donated 150,000 posters and
brochures to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to support the campaign to create
awareness.
China has also donated 5 million
yuan ($833,000) worth of equipment and medical supplies to help the country
deal with any outbreak
Mr. Goodman said the Health Ministry
is aiming at building permanent structures to handle such outbreaks in the
future.
“We are looking at building a more
suitable one,” he said, “one that can last for long.”
Ebola has killed over 3,000 people
in West Africa with Serria Leone, Guinea and Liberia being the worst affected
countries.
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