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.

Supporting the production of a documentary presenting Ebola inspection system at Noguchi Institute

The NMIMR contributes to Ebola prevention in Ghana, as the only institute registered for Ebola inspection by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, at one point, residents living in the vicinity of the Institute raised serious questions about possible infection by specimens being brought.

To dispel their concerns, the NMIMR has produced a 15 minutes of documentary footage to show how inspections are conducted within the Institute. JICA supported its production and its broadcast in Ghana.

In the documentary, the Ministry of Health of Ghana as well as the country office of WHO, provided comments to give assurances about the capacity and expertise of the NMIMR to deal with inspections. JICA’s contributions were also presented in the footage including the dispatch of Japanese experts and training programs for Ghanaian researchers held in Japan to improve the research capacity of the NMIMR.

There is a scene in which Kwadwo Koram, professor, director of the NMIMR, expressed his gratitude for the long-term support and fruitful cooperation from Japan. This footage has been broadcast repeatedly on the state channel, and it will be also broadcast on commercial television soon.

Hideyo Noguchi’s sense of mission lives on in Ghana

Hideyo Noguchi is the figure printed on the one thousand Japanese yen bill. About 100 years ago he went to Ghana without his family and devoted himself to research on yellow fever. Unfortunately, he came down with this disease and his life ended in Ghana. To praise his achievement, the NMIMR was built as a basic medical research institute, with grant aid from Japan.

After completion of the NMIMR, JICA supported basic medical research in Ghana from the bottom up, by implementing technical cooperation projects on the prevention of several infections. Today, the NMIMR has developed to the point of engaging in cooperative research with other research institutions, and also having exchanges with Japanese universities.

Since 2010, together with Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Nagasaki International University, the NMIMR has been working on a project called “Studies of Anti-viral and Anti-parasitic Compounds from Selected Ghanaian Medicinal Plants,” which is a scientific cooperative project under the Science and Technology Research Partnership (SATREPS) between JICA and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). With the completed projects, JICA has sent experts to Ghana with the cooperation of Japanese universities, while a number of Ghanaian researchers went to Japan to obtain master’s degrees or doctoral degrees.

William Kwabena Ampofo, professor, head of Virology Department of the NMIMR, completed his doctorates at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University. He acts as an adviser for the emergency committee of the World Health Organization Ebola disease. And he is also offering technical support for Guinea, where Ebola has spread widely.

Ghana as a Hub Country for Ebola Countermeasures in West Africa

Ebola has been on the rampage in West Africa since the end of August 2014. Senegal, Nigeria and Mali, where Ebola had not widely spread compared to other countries, were eventually declared Ebola-free on Jan. 18, 2015. Whist, in the three most-affected countries, namely Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where more than 8,000 had been killed, there have been fewer than 100 new confirmed cases reported in a week for the first time since its epidemic according to a report by the World Health Organization (as of Jan. 28). Even though the spread has slowed, the acute situation continues.

Ghana is located close to the countries where Ebola cases were found, and it is taking an important role in the fight against Ebola in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The United Nations established its head office for “the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER)” in Ghana. UNMEER is controlling Ebola countermeasures in West Africa and also handling emergency supplies delivered from Japan and other countries. Both the Japanese Embassy and JICA office in Ghana administer Japanese government’s activities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, therefore, they contribute to providing support for both countries.

In Ghana, no Ebola cases have been reported. However, it is said that its infectious risk of Ebola is the highest because the flow of people over borders is high (2). An institution has been collecting more than 100 blood samples of suspected Ebola cases all over the country. This institution is the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), University of Ghana, built 35 years ago with Japanese cooperation.

Study proves that Ebola is more distructive in young children

The team analyzed data on Ebola cases in children under 16 during the current outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and found that young children who get the disease have a lower chance of surviving it, although the rate of infection is lower in children than adults.
As of March 2015, nearly 4,000 children under 16 have been affected by Ebola in the current epidemic, around a fifth of all confirmed and probable cases, according to the World Health Organization.
The study found that Ebola has affected young children most severely, killing around 90 percent of children aged under a year and around 80 percent of children aged one to four years who are infected.
Older children are much more likely to survive the disease. It has killed 52 percent of infected children aged 10 to 15. For adults aged 16 to 44, the case fatality rate is 65 percent.
The incubation period, the time between becoming infected and showing symptoms, was 6.9 days in children under a year and 9.8 days in children aged 10 to 15.
Younger children also had shorter times from the onset of symptoms to hospitalization and death, they found.
There were also differences in the symptoms experienced by children. Children were more likely to have a fever when they first see a doctor, and less likely to have pain in the abdomen, chest, joints, or muscles; difficulty breathing or swallowing; or hiccups.
“These findings show that Ebola affects young children quite differently to adults, and it’s especially important that we get them into treatment quickly. We also need to look at whether young children are getting treatment that’s appropriate for their age,” said Professor Christl Donnelly of the Imperial College London and a co-author of the study, in a statement.
The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Enditem

Generosity helping in fight against Ebola

Health care workers in Liberia are gowned, masked and sprayed down so they can help Ebola patients and not contract the disease. Donations from Langley have helped in the response to the disease.

— image credit: Photo courtesy of the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation

The Langley-based Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation has been busy these past months, responding to the Ebola crisis in Liberia.
Marj Ratel, founder and director of KBNF, said to date, they have shipped four containers, three being received and one enroute.
They have eight more containers waiting to go. So far, 685 hospital beds are committed, coming from parts of Canada from here to Ontario. This week, KBNF is receiving 100-plus beds from Vancouver General Hospital alone.
“One thousand (beds) will become a reality I believe, this year,” said Ratel, a registered nurse.
The foundation committed last fall to collect 1,000 hospital beds and ship them to Liberia. That will require 18 containers, and shipping will cost about $5,000 per container.
“Just last week, we received a carload of clothing and shoes from a family south of Fraser Highway,” she said of the donations happening locally.
Their contributions will be going on the next shipment. The response from the Langley community has been touching, she said. Rotary clubs are also looking to help.
Ratel said Ebola has been heartbreaking and devastating, with hospital staff sharing stories and pictures of the wake of death and despair this disease leaves.
“Thankfully there have been no new cases in Liberia in over 26 days,” said Ratel.
KBNF is a registered charity that focuses mainly on providing medical support for brain and spinal injuries and other diseases for people of Ghana and other parts of West Africa.

The foundation has established a well-equipped teaching hospital on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana’s capital, and it treats patients from across West Africa.

42 Ghanaian Health Workers On Medical Mission To Ebola Hit Countries Return Home

Forty-two health workers who served in countries severely hit by the Ebola virus have returned home.

The Health workers spent three months in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Before arrival, they were quarantined in Cote d'Ivoire for 21 days to ensure that they are free from the deadly virus.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Tony Goodman in an interview with Radio Ghana described the health workers as Ghanaians returning from the “battle front”.

He said despite being quarantined for 21 days in Cote d'Ivoire, the returnees were made to undergo another screening at the Kotoka International Airport.

The workers include psychologists, doctors, and nurses.

Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone lockdown to hit 2.5m people

Sierra Leone is to enforce a three-day lockdown of key parts of the country to try to contain the Ebola epidemic.

A three-day curfew in September, keeping people at home under quarantine, was hailed as a success by the authorities, despite some criticism.

The country's National Ebola Response Centre says the new lockdown which will come into force next week is expected to affect close to two point five million people.

While the number of cases has slowed since the peak of the outbreak, the virus is far from eradicated.

Meanwhile a tablet device that can withstand being doused in chlorine has been developed to help doctors caring for patients with Ebola.

Designed by technology volunteers and Google, it can also be used when wearing gloves and in storms and high humidity.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) put out a call for an Ebola-proof tablet to help the teams’ record vital patient information.

Experts to evaluate WHO’s performance on Ebola outbreak

Dr Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General,  has commissioned a panel of outside independent experts,  to undertake an assessment on all aspects of WHO’s response in the Ebola outbreak.
A statement issued by the WHO and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said this was in response to a resolution passed during the Ebola Special Session of the Executive Board in January.
It said Dame Barbara Stocking would chair the panel.
She was formerly Chief Executive of Oxfam GB (2001-13),  and during this time,  led major humanitarian responses.
Currently she is the  President of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The other panel members are Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfun, Director-General of the National Institute for Biomedical Research, Democratic Republic of  Congo; Dr Faisal Shuaib, Head of the National Ebola Emergency Operations Centre, Nigeria; and Dr Carmencita Alberto-Banatin, independent consultant and adviser on health emergencies and disasters, Philippines.
The rest are Professor Julio Frenk, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and Professor Ilona Kickbusch, Director of the Global Health Programme at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.

The statement said the panel would present a first progress report on its work to the 68th World Health Assembly in May.

Project aims to fight Ebola by improving access to information

Access to information is a term that can often sound very abstract.

But if you dig a little deeper, you will see that this foundational human right can in fact have very tangible effects on people's everyday lives.

This IFEX podcast is part one of a three part audio series that looks at the critical issue of access to information in Africa. Stay tuned for parts two and three, which will be released on 18 March and 25 March, respectively.

In this episode, we speak with Rikke Hansen, a program officer at the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), about her project to promote access to information about Ebola in Ghana.

Hansen tells us about the challenges that many journalists in Ghana encountered when attempting to access information about the deadly virus, and what the MFWA is doing to help ensure that life-saving information reaches people all around the country.

To learn more about the Ebola and Media Project, click here.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this podcast episode. Feel free to tweet your thoughts to us @IFEX, or share your ideas on our Facebook page.

To learn more about why freedom of information is important, how it is addressed through legislation, and how it can be used to promote accountability and democracy all around the African continent, check out this factsheet by Karen Mohan and Africa Check.

Ghana Health Service says Ebola campaign still on-going

The Ghana Health Service says it has not suspended the campaign against Ebola, despite reports of a reduction in new cases in some of the affected countries.

Public Relations Officer of the Health Ministry, Tony Goodman told Radio Ghana that the authorities are not leaving anything to chance and are therefore sustaining efforts to prevent the disease from entering the country.

Mr. Goodman also indicated that the Ministry is still putting up Ebola centres across the country which could be converted into permanent centres for infectious diseases.

On the indebtedness of the National Health Insurance Authority to health facilities, Mr. Goodman said, the Ministry is collaborating with Finance to facilitate the speedy release of funds.

Ebola, a year on!!

Have you ever lived in a village where bats are in abundance? Perhaps you would cast your mind to around 37 Military Hospital?that is if you have ever been to Accra –where bats go for treatment. Or what do they do in and around the hospital? Don’t assume those bats have been quarantined by fate.
I have also lived in a village where God or my landlord (I don’t know which of them) built a zoo of bats over my ceiling. These bats run amok everywhere in the village and it seemed to me they are the primary owners of the village, Kaira. Sometimes in the classrooms while teaching and learning is going on, these colony of bats intrude classrooms, with their sounds serving as ice breakers or musical interlude, if you will.
Fruit-eating bats are in many places across the country and the mere sight of them speaks volumes about Ghana’s preparation against the Ebola epidemic, if indeed, the virus is spread by these animals elsewhere.
Many Africans, including some humanitarian experts, criticised the international community’s slow response to the fight against the ever- ravaging virus. But truth be told, little has been done by ourselves, notwithstanding the contribution made by the African Union. Ghana, for instance, has done very little and should the virus show up, it would destroy us as “the Lord struck all the firstborns in the land of Egypt at midnight.” And one wonders whether the power crises would not double the infection of the disease, should the virus sneak into Accra ,seeing how ineffective our hospitals become when lights go out.
Our Ebola treatment centres were not completed early enough and sadly, not many. Our neighbours to the west, Ivory Coast, were reported to have gone beyond setting up Ebola treatment centres and employed mass spraying exercise to ward off these bats from their borders, many of which strayed into the western region of Ghana. If a disease could infect over 2300 and kill over 9000 within a few months , why wouldn’t a government do everything conceivable to keep it a distant story, but would watch these fruit-eating bats cohabit with humans, some of which are patients with weak immune systems (in the case of 37 Military hospital)?
Meanwhile, there is another side of the Ebola story; some people believe the Ebola virus was cooked in a Western “pot” as a biological weapon. It was alleged that the virus was created by the U.S military in collaboration with some International pharmaceutical companies. The leader of The Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, Professor Cyril Broderick, a professor at the Delaware University, Chris Brown the “With You” singer, Archbishop Palmer Buckle were among prominent leaders who voiced this allegation. And looking at the Machiavellianism in Western and Eastern Blocs of world politics and also in many business people, any clearheaded person cannot rubbish the above claim. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Anthrax attacks have not been erased from the archives of world history.
The aforementioned men of courage aired their views on “population control” in the hope that the media would talk about the issue.
However, that was not to be. Both international and local media, together with Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) prefer weightier matters; like talking about the sins of Putin but ignoring the thousands of innocent Black Africans who are dying (probably) by the wickedness or negligence of some scientists. Or, discussing the sins of African governments while seeing nothing wrong with the evil meted out on Africans by these western governments and their cohorts. To them, every policy and product from the West is the best, so they( the media and CSOs) failed to discuss the issue extensively.
AFRICA’S STRIDES
I cringe when I see Africa portrayed as a place estranged by Ebola. But the world has not left Africa too far behind in terms of health care services. At least this was evident in how some of the Ebola affected countries handled their cases. Nigeria proved it is really the Big Brother when it announced that it had rid the virus off its borders. By mid-January 2015, Mali has also come out that the country was now free of the virus. Senegal also gave a commendable response when imported cases were reported in that country. And just last week, Liberia, which was torn apart by the disease came out that it has released its last patient, down from a height of 500 cases per week in September. Also, encouraging is news from Sierra Leone and Guinea where cases of infection are receding.
Even though cases of infection are receding, the harm inflicted on people in the affected countries remains, and the compounded grief it leaves should not be overlooked. When the disease is totally wiped out of the sub-region, the media, especially, the international ones should educate the world extensively that West Africa is free of Ebola. Social media, campaigns such as “I am an African, not Ebola” should be intensified and other “hashtags” developed to that effect.
In conclusion, one year of panic and destruction caused by Ebola cannot be swept under the carpet seeing the traumatic prints it leaves in the files of Africa’s history. As a result, all efforts to trace all persons who came in contact with infected persons must be conclusive in order to nip any possible resurgence in the bud. I also urge African governments, to build robust health care systems to deal with future medical emergencies and epidemics.

UN Lauds President Mahama For His Leadership Foresight, Courage To Host UNMEER In Accra

The United Nations (UN) has commended President John Dramani Mahama, for his leadership foresight, courage and inspirational role to host the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) in Accra.

“On behalf of Mr Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General extend the world body’s sincerely appreciation for the support and decisive leadership exhibited by President Mahama and the government of Ghana for generously hosting UNMEER at that difficult time,” Mr Maged Abdelaziz , Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa, stated on behalf of the UN Secretary General at the New York.

Mr Abdelaziz made the commendation at a high-level meeting of ECOWAS Ministers in Charge of Gender and Women’s Affairs at the margins of the 59th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women at the New York.

UNMEER was established on September 19, 2014 after the unanimous adoption of the General Assembly Resolution 69/1, and the adoption of the Security Council Resolution 2177 (2014) on the Ebola outbreak.

UNMEER was set up as a temporary measure to meet immediate needs related to the unprecedented fight against Ebola and Ghana under the leadership of President Mahama who is also the current ECOWAS Chairman accepted to host the mission.

Mr Abdelaziz also commended the ECOWAS President, Mr Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, and the African Union, for supporting and joining global efforts to combat the Ebola Virus Disease, especially in the most affected countries.

The President of the Bureau of Ministers of Social Development for ECOWAS, Nana Oye Lithur, who chaired the high-level meeting, recounted that Ebola has caused so much humanitarian disaster, displaced many people, created a wave of orphans, and also negatively impacted on the economic fortunes of affected countries and the sub-region as a whole.

She said Ebola recovery measures should address the needs of women, and harness their leadership roles as caregivers, change agents and community leaders.

“It is vital that women are equipped with requisite knowledge on Ebola so that they are able to support the Ebola prevention programmes. We request that the planning, programming, procurement, management, community programmes and recovery processes be made gender sensitive and participatory.

“Gender disaggregated data should be collected at all times,” Nana Oye Lithur who is also Ghana’s Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, stated.

The Gender Minister challenged the international community, governments and other stakeholders, to focus on women as key agents of change and social mobilizers with a central role to play in sharing knowledge, raising awareness and enhancing care.

“We as ministers in charge of Women Affairs in the ECOWAS sub-region, are committed to prioritizing gender and sustaining progress in fulfilling the gender agenda,” she noted.

The ECOWAS Ministers in charge of Gender and Women’s Affairs also used the platform to evaluate the negative socio-economic impact of Ebla haemorrhagic on West African women and proposes a regional programme to support the reintegration of victims in affected countries.

The high-level ECOWAS Gender Ministers meeting also assessed the impact of EVD on West African women; adopted a common strategy and innovative actions to limit the negative consequences of EVD on women and facilitate their rapid socio-economic rehabilitation by monitoring the gender indicators in the post-Ebola response.


SOURCE: Francis Ameyibor, GNA Special UN Correspondent, New York

UN: Ebola Not Over Until Cases Reach Zero

The United Nations Children’s Fund warns the Ebola epidemic will continue to devastate the lives of children and their communities in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as long as one case of this deadly disease remains. UNICEF is urging swift, effective action to bring the number of Ebola cases down to zero.

The three presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have set April 15 as the goal for reaching zero cases of Ebola. The UNICEF representative in Sierra Leone, Roeland Monasch, tells VOA it is hard to predict whether this wished for goal will be reached.

“Every day I look at my e-mails at the end of the day to look at the score," said Monasch. "And, every day I pray it is zero; but, every day, unfortunately it is not ...We call it a bumpy road to zero. It is going up and it is going down. We see days when we have 20 to 25 cases. We see days when we have two or three cases.”

The World Health Organization reports nearly 24,600 cases of Ebola, including 10,144 deaths in the three West African countries. The U.N. Children’s Fund reports 20 percent of these infections are among children. In addition, the agency notes more than 16,000 children have lost one or both parents to this disease.

Monasch says children also remain vulnerable to other killer diseases. He says Sierra Leone has the highest under five mortality rate in the world and this has risen in the last nine to 12 months because of Ebola.

The UNICEF representative says it is crucial to start building better basic health facilities so children can access non-Ebola health services, which have broken down during the course of the epidemic.

“Children are dying from very easily preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia," said Monasch. "And, as UNICEF we have been working very closely with the Ministries of Health to make sure that there are health workers, to make sure that there are medicines in place; but, unfortunately, people are so afraid to come to the clinics to be identified to be an Ebola patient or to get infected by Ebola that children are dying at home of preventable diseases.”

UNICEF says the outbreak will not be over until there are zero cases of Ebola. To get there, it says every single contact has to be traced and monitored to make sure no hidden cases remain.

The agency warns against the enormous risk of complacency. It says people must not let down their guard because they believe the epidemic is over and revert to behavior that could again spread the disease. UNICEF says communities must continue to conduct safe burials and households where Ebola is detected must be quarantined.


SOURCE: VOA News

Ebola: US aid worker evacuated from Sierra Leone 'critical'

The condition of a US aid worker who tested positive for Ebola has changed from serious to critical, hospital officials have said.

The patient - a clinician - was airlifted from Sierra Leone and admitted to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, on Friday.

Ten other healthcare workers "who came to the aid of their ailing colleague" are being transported to the US, said charity Partners in Health.

They are being monitored for symptoms.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent a team to Sierra Leone to investigate how the healthcare worker became exposed and determine who might have been in contact with the infected person.

The patient is the eleventh person with the deadly virus to be treated in the US.

More than 10,000 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak - 3,687 in Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation.

BBC

ECOWAS Gender ministers pledge support for fight against Ebola

Ministers in charge of Gender and Women Affairs of ECOWAS have declared their total commitment to fight for the complete eradication of the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) and for life to return to normal in the region.

In a communique issued after an interactive session held on the margins of the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, the ministers pledged to achieve their aim through supporting member states, ECOWAS and the development partners in their effort to fight EVD.

The meeting discussed the negative impact of EVD at social and economic levels on women in West Africa and agreed on priority actions and strategies to be carried out to overcome the negative consequences of EVD on women in West Africa.

It was on the theme: “Gender and Ebola, the impact of the disease on women in West Africa.”

The ministers further requested ECOWAS, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), the African Union (AU) and other partners to be actively involved and regularly consult the national gender machinery for actions to be carried out for a response against the EVD in the short, medium and long terms.

On medical support, the communique called for an upgrading of the health systems of all West African countries, particularly in the countries affected, “to ensure permanent resilience to this type of scourges.”

In addition, the ministers emphasised the need for measures to address the social needs of the widows and orphans.

The communique further said the sanitary measures in force at the borders and in public places should be maintained and permanent public awareness campaigns carried out through women’s groups and organisations for the adoption of sustainable hygienic behaviours.

In a statement to open the meeting, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, who is also the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Gender Ministers group, said the Ebola outbreak had caused so much humanitarian disaster, displaced many people and created a wave of orphans, and also negatively impacted the economic fortunes of affected countries and the sub-region as a whole. “Since Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, women as primary care providers in the community and as medical professionals are at an increased risk of contracting the virus. Furthermore, women are those who perform certain traditional practices and rituals for deceased persons. This poses a threat,” Nana Oye said. She said unverified figures cited by the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that as many as 75 per cent Ebola fatalities in Liberia were women, while in Sierra Leone, women represented around 59 per cent of the deaths caused by Ebola. She said the Ebola response should address the needs of women and equip them with the requisite knowledge on Ebola so that they would be in a better position to support the Ebola prevention programmes. “We request that the planning, programming, procurement, management, community programmes and recovery processes be made gender sensitive and participatory,” she added and called on the international community, governments and other stakeholders to focus on women as key agents of change and social mobilisers with a central role to play in sharing knowledge, raising awareness and enhancing care.

Ms Julia Duncan-Cassell, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection of the Republic of Liberia, said border closures and travel restrictions greatly affected the livelihoods of women who were mostly cross-border traders.

“From June to October 2014, Liberia stood still; women farmers could not farm, health services shut down and pregnant women had babies on the streets,” she said.

She called on all to work to isolate the disease because of its devastating effect on a country’s development.

“This time it was Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia , we don’t know whose turn it will be next if the proper procedures are not put in place,” she said.

source: Ghana web