EBOLA GHANA ALERT

Thursday, 19 March 2015

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.

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

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

Friday, 16 January 2015

Togolese President in Accra for Ebola meeting

Togolese President, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, ECOWAS’ Contact Person on Ebola is in Accra to participate in a High Level Coordination meeting of ECOWAS, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and other partners.
The meeting will make an assessment of the progress made so far by the West African sub-region in combating the disease.
President Gnassigbe was met at the airport by Vice President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur on Thursday.
The meeting which will be chaired by ECOWAS chairman, President John Mahama will discuss the effective coordination of the Ebola Response Initiatives and provide a platform for the sharing of information on the situation in affected member states.
The meeting will take place at the Accra International Conference Center on Friday.
- See more at: http://www.citifmonline.com/2015/01/16/togolese-president-accra-ebola-meeting/#sthash.x9tBoQC9.dpufTogolese President, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, ECOWAS’ Contact Person on Ebola is in Accra to participate in a High Level Coordination meeting of ECOWAS, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and other partners.

The meeting will make an assessment of the progress made so far by the West African sub-region in combating the disease.

President Gnassigbe was met at the airport by Vice President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur on Thursday.

The meeting which will be chaired by ECOWAS chairman, President John Mahama will discuss the effective coordination of the Ebola Response Initiatives and provide a platform for the sharing of information on the situation in affected member states.

The meeting will take place at the Accra International Conference Center on Friday.

Ghana risks recording Ebola case – Health Minister

Minister for Health, Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah said Ghana stands a high risk of recording a case of Ebola due to the continuous interactions with the countries most affected by the disease.

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Thursday, 19 March 2015

Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Friday, 16 January 2015