Conducting prevention activities assiduously

In addition to supporting the Noguchi Institute, JICA together with the Ghanaian Health Service, a governmental agency of the Ministry of Health, is supporting and promoting the “National Preparedness and Response Plan for Prevention and Control of Ebola viral Disease in Ghana.” To begin with, JICA supported the production of printed materials such as posters and leafletss to educate residents to properly prevent Ebola infection without panicking. And Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers are conducting onsite prevention activities using printed materials.

JICA also provided 128 Japanese-made non-contact thermometers (a device that can be used without touching the skin). These non-contact thermometers contributed not only to border Ebola prevention, but also to regions where no Ebola cases had been found and no sense of danger was felt.

“It is also contributing to the safety of health officers at the port and medical staff who work on the frontline, screening people to prevent Ebola from entering Ghana,” said Erasmus Agongo, doctor, director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Ghana Health Service.

Furthermore, JICA partially supported the trainings dubbed: “Ebola Case Management Training,” prepared by the Ghana Health Service, targeting Ebola regional response teams throughout the country.

The person in charge of the training, Gertrude Avotri, a Programme Officer of the Institutional Care Division Ghana Health Service, said: “Training for Ebola Case Management was urgently needed. Although, our national budget was limited, with JICA’s support, many medical personnel, police officers and immigration officers throughout the country were able to acquire the capacity to prepare the management of Ebola cases to a certain extent.”

Those supports were conducted as part of an ongoing technical cooperation for the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service. JICA’s experts and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers are working for those projects onsite.

JICA’s support of Ebola preparedness and response is ongoing. To contribute to smooth screening in border regions and at an airport, JICA has provided Japanese-made thermography cameras. JICA’s experts on infection prevention and control are also working on the promotion and reinforcement of Ebola prevention activities.