IMF blamed for Ebola spread in West Africa

 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been blamed for the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in three West African countries.

According to UK-based researchers, the IMF’s imposition of spending cuts on the affected countries led to “under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems” in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The BBC reports that the IMF has denied the allegation.

An IMF spokesperson is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “such claims are based on a misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies.”

A Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author, Alexander Kentikelenis is quoted by the BBC as saying, “a major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked.”

read more here

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been blamed for the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in three West African countries.
According to UK-based researchers, the IMF’s imposition of spending cuts on the affected countries led to “under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems” in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
The BBC reports that the IMF has denied the allegation.
An IMF spokesperson is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “such claims are based on a misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies.”
A Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author, Alexander Kentikelenis is quoted by the BBC as saying, “a major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked.”
- See more at: http://www.citifmonline.com/2014/12/22/imf-blamed-ebola-spread-west-africa/#sthash.hy8Z2z5i.dpu

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been blamed for the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in three West African countries.
According to UK-based researchers, the IMF’s imposition of spending cuts on the affected countries led to “under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems” in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
The BBC reports that the IMF has denied the allegation.
An IMF spokesperson is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “such claims are based on a misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies.”
A Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author, Alexander Kentikelenis is quoted by the BBC as saying, “a major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked.”
- See more at: http://www.citifmonline.com/2014/12/22/imf-blamed-ebola-spread-west-africa/#sthash.hy8Z2z5i.dpuf

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been blamed for the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in three West African countries.
According to UK-based researchers, the IMF’s imposition of spending cuts on the affected countries led to “under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems” in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
The BBC reports that the IMF has denied the allegation.
An IMF spokesperson is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “such claims are based on a misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies.”
A Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author, Alexander Kentikelenis is quoted by the BBC as saying, “a major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked.”
- See more at: http://www.citifmonline.com/2014/12/22/imf-blamed-ebola-spread-west-africa/#sthash.hy8Z2z5i.dpuf

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been blamed for the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in three West African countries.
According to UK-based researchers, the IMF’s imposition of spending cuts on the affected countries led to “under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared health systems” in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
The BBC reports that the IMF has denied the allegation.
An IMF spokesperson is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “such claims are based on a misunderstanding, and, in some cases, a misrepresentation, of IMF policies.”
A Cambridge University sociologist and lead study author, Alexander Kentikelenis is quoted by the BBC as saying, “a major reason why the Ebola outbreak spread so rapidly was the weakness of healthcare systems in the region, and it would be unfortunate if underlying causes were overlooked.”
- See more at: http://www.citifmonline.com/2014/12/22/imf-blamed-ebola-spread-west-africa/#sthash.hy8Z2z5i.dpuf

Vodafone Ghana Leads Awareness Campaign On Ebola

With a passion and commitment to ensure that Ghana is free from the deadly Ebola virus, Vodafone has stepped up its awareness creation mechanism to focus on Education, Operational Response and Community Support.

Ebola has claimed over 6,000 lives across West Africa since the first casualty was recorded in Guinea in March, 2014. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), this is the largest outbreak on the continent and is currently prevalent in four countries – Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Mali.

In Ghana, Vodafone is using mobile technology and innovation to ensure social and behavioural change in the fight against the disease. Internally, the company initiated a campaign in August 2014 to educate and offer guidance on Ebola to its staff whiles a well-coordinated plan has been put in place to engage external audiences in the country.

Nana Yaa Ofori-Koree, Head of Vodafone Foundation and Sustainability said:

“The education utilised internal communications channels, and face-to-face sessions which were deployed to deliver relevant messages to the over 1400 employees in the country coupled with a two-minute documentary on Ebola which was screened on plasma TVs in the offices, retail shops and on the Vodafone Tube. Our internal radio station, RED FM, which is run by staff, is also one of the channels we have used to drive the company’s weekly messages to staff”.

Additionally, the telecoms company has a platform that offers travel guidance and has visibility of visitors who may have been to Ebola affected countries on a continuous basis for monitoring purposes.

Throughout the course of this year, Vodafone has put in place measures to help deal with any outbreak internally including identifying hospitals designated and equipped to handle Ebola in Ghana, as well as procuring hand sanitizer dispensers to be distributed to the various offices across the country.

On the external front, the telecoms giant has compiled a two-minute video clip on the outbreak, which has been uploaded unto YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms and accessible on smartphones.

Nana Yaa added, “We continue to educate Ghanaians about Ebola in various local languages. Our medical call centre – Healthline 255 - on average receives about 350 calls daily and this number has increased to about 900 following the advent of the outbreak in August. We are not resting on our laurels until we are able to see tremendous improvement in the fight against this canker”.

In partnership with the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Vodafone has introduced the Healthline Voice Message service; a free voice service which offers weekly messages on Ebola to Ghanaians. This is delivered in English and four other key local languages.

Healthfest, a Vodafone Ghana Foundation’s annual health initiative which offers free quality healthcare to communities across the country, has also been active in educating Ghanaians in various communities across the country, as part of concerted efforts to dispel the many myths surrounding the disease in Ghana. Other avenues including a Healthline app, have all been deployed in the drive. 

World Vision launches Ebola Preparedness Project

World Vision Ghana (WVG), an International Non-Governmental Organisation, has launched Ebola Preparedness Project in Paga, a border town in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

The four months project dubbed; 'The Kassena-Nankana Ebola Preparedness Project', is to be funded by WVG in collaboration with the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives to the tune of 172,929 Ghana cedis.

WVG is contributing 53,320 Ghana cedis whilst the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives is providing 119,609 Ghana cedis.

Ms Benedicta Pealore, Upper East Regional Operation Based Team Leader of WVG, launched the project on behalf of the National Director of WVG, Mr Charles Hubert.

In a speech read for him, Mr Hubert said fighting a threat like the Ebola disease demanded strategic interventions in places like Paga, which was Ghana's entry point for its northern neighbours of Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali and Niger.

He said although Ghana had not recorded the Ebola disease, there should not be room for complacency on the part of the Government and all stakeholders.

Mr Hubert said the four months project was expected to improve the awareness of community members on the Ebola disease, enhance community surveillance of suspected Ebola cases and other communicable diseases as well as help strengthen the capacity building of community health staff and volunteers to manage suspected Ebola cases.

He said major activities that the project would implement include the training of 44 selected traditional, religious and community leaders including women and youth groups and the vulnerable as Ebola Ambassadors to facilitate education and awareness creation in communities.

“One hundred health workers and 140 volunteers will be trained on Ebola symptoms, signs and referral systems as well as the management of suspected Ebola cases. The project will also support health centres, churches and mosques and community gathering points with hand washing facilities,” Mr Hubert added.

He disclosed that already the project had procured materials including 10 pieces of non-contact thermometers and 100 pieces each of hand gloves, face masks and hand sanitizers to facilitate screening.

He said forty-four bicycles, safety boots and touch lights and 90 pieces of hand washing containers, soap and waste bins had also been distributed to community volunteers, churches, mosques and health facilities.

“WVG committed 661,250 Ghana cedis to the National Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to complement Government and partners’ efforts to prevent, manage and contain the disease. Subsequently WVG has supported the training of health staff and laboratory technicians on Personal Protection Equipment use, sample collection, packaging and transportation.

“ World Vision Ghana has also printed and donated Information Education and Communication materials to the Ghana Health Service to facilitate public education,” Mr Hubert said.

Mr George Nonterah, District Chief Executive, lauded the efforts of WVG and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives for partnering with the Government and the district to fight the Ebola disease and appealed to other stakeholders to join.

Read morehere

Preparing to confront Ebola – just in case

Countries in Africa have been working on improving their preparedness in the event of an Ebola outbreak. The WHO teams have provided simulated exercises in hospitals and technical training, for immediate emergency response and communication.

WHO/N. Alexander

Mamo Jatta is a Regional Public Health and Surveillance Officer in The Gambia and, like many people living near Ebola affected countries, he is concerned the disease will enter his own country, “I recently visited the town where I grew up and wondered what would happen if Ebola were to hit us here, would we be ready for it?”
Experts at WHO have the same concerns – and they are transforming these into action. Ebola has already been exported, albeit resulting only in small outbreaks, from the three most-affected countries to the neighbouring countries of Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Now, because of their geographic location or trading and migration patterns, 14 additional countries are considered as priority countries, in terms of risk of Ebola importation: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, Togo, The Gambia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The Ebola outbreaks and response in Nigeria and Senegal showed the world that the disease can be stopped if a country is adequately prepared from the outset,” observed Isabelle Nuttall, Director of the Global Capacities, Alert and Response department at WHO. “WHO is now working with all countries on the at-risk list to help them meet the same standards for preparedness.”

WHO teams help prepare for Ebola

"The Ebola outbreaks and response in Nigeria and Senegal showed the world that the disease can be stopped if a country is adequately prepared from the outset. WHO is now working with all countries on the at-risk list to help them meet the same standards for preparedness."

Isabelle Nuttall, Director, Global Capacities, Alert and Response, WHO

The WHO teams provide simulated exercises in hospitals and technical training, for immediate emergency response and communication, to help countries identify opportunities for improvement in order to strengthen their preparedness in the event of an outbreak. Mamo participated in the training and says that, “The mission is timely, as The Gambia prepares for Ebola. It has revealed a lot about our strengths and weaknesses and what we can do better, particularly in the area of coordination.”
Mamo is talking about the first component of the Ebola preparedness checklist, developed by WHO, that calls for overall emergency coordination- designating roles to all national and international agencies in case of an outbreak. The teams are using the checklist in their workshop to review with doctors, government officials, and border guards, among others, the first steps that need to be taken when a case of Ebola appears in the country. The comprehensive checklist follows WHO’s International Health Regulations and is used to identify concrete actions for countries and how they will be supported by the international community.

Lessons learned

The checklist further helps teams to make recommendations on community engagement, infection prevention and control, case management, Ebola Treatment Centres, safe dignified burials or safe alternatives, epidemiological surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory capacity, and border crossing preparedness. The recommendations of the teams can vary- from implementing rapid response teams that carry out infection, prevention, and control measures to identifying diagnostic laboratories that can efficiently test for Ebola and safely transport samples to the laboratory.
The team works closely with the country’s Ministry of Health and international partners, including the UN Mission for Emergency Ebola Response, to best incorporate the recommendations according to each specific country context.

Putting theory into practice

All 13 countries have unique health systems, and WHO is conducting training sessions in each of them to help key actors complete the tasks on the check list. In part, the training sessions involve simulated exercises – for example in hospital settings, where participants seek to meet the gold standard for infection control. There are also table-top sessions where participants do the concrete work needed to determine how national authorities will coordinate their actions with partner organizations and the UN Mission for Emergency Ebola Response.
At present, the training missions represent a race to help countries ready themselves to quickly stamp out any further Ebola outbreaks, but there are broader implications. The exercise is giving countries an opportunity to take a closer look at the functioning of their health systems overall. “Preparedness efforts in Ghana brought sharper focus on the health system and revealed strengths and weaknesses,” says Dr Magda Robalo, WHO Representative to Ghana, where a training session recently took place. “The country’s Ministry of Health will capitalize on the lessons learned during the training.” 


Read more here 

Ebola vaccine trial ‘interrupted’ due to joint pains

The clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in Switzerland has been interrupted after some patients complained of joint pains in their hands and feet.

The trial was stopped one week early in all 59 volunteers “as a measure of precaution”, the University of Geneva Hospital said.

The vaccine being tested is one developed by NewLink, and recently bought by Merck.

There is currently no vaccine licensed for use to protect against Ebola.

Two vaccines are currently being tested in humans in a number of countries.

The side-effects in the Geneva trial were experienced by four volunteers.The hospital said human safety trials would resume on 5 January in up to 15 volunteers after checks had taken place to ensure the joint pain symptoms were “benign and temporary”.

“They are all fine and being monitored regularly by the medical team leading the study,” the hospital said.

Four trials of another Ebola vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, in collaboration with the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, are also underway.

Read more here 

Japan donates Ebola equipment to Noguchi Memorial Institute

H.E. Kaoru Yoshimura, Japanese Ambassador to Ghana has handed over the Equipment for Preparedness against the Ebola Viral Disease to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).

The donation forms part of the government of Japan’s continuous support at assisting Ghana in its preparedness against the Ebola Viral Disease.The items include: two thermal cycler, one deep freezer and 45 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Another one 155 sets of PPE and reagents for testing will be delivered to the Institute soon.

The government of Japan has also assisted NMIMR in the production of an Ebola-related Documentary for social mobilization.

The documentary has already been shown on television and would be repeated several times on different TV stations.

H.E. Yoshimura congratulated the Noguchi Memorial Institute on its remarkable efforts, achievements and commitment towards the improvement of health conditions not only in Ghana but also in the West African sub-region.

Professor Kwadwo Koram, Director, Noguchi Memorial Institute, University of Ghana, thanked the government of Japan for supporting with the Institute since 1979 in various fields through the projects and grant aid assistance.

He stated that the Institute would maintain and make good use of the items donated for Ghana’s Preparedness against the Ebola Viral Disease.

Read more here

Ebola Preparedness Project launched in Upper East

World Vision Ghana (WVG), an International Non-Governmental Organisation, has launched Ebola Preparedness Project in Paga, a border town in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

EBOLA VIRUS

The four months project dubbed; ‘The Kassena-Nankana Ebola Preparedness Project’, is to be funded by WVG in collaboration with the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives to the tune of 172,929 Ghana cedis.

WVG is contributing 53,320 Ghana cedis whilst the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives is providing 119,609 Ghana cedis.

Ms Benedicta Pealore, Upper East Regional Operation Based Team Leader of WVG, launched the project on behalf of the National Director of WVG, Mr Charles Hubert.

In a speech read for him, Mr Hubert said fighting a threat like the Ebola disease demanded strategic interventions in places like Paga which was Ghana’s entry point for its northern neigbours of Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali and Niger.

He said although Ghana had not recorded the Ebola disease, there should not be room for complacency on the part of the Government and all stakeholders.

Mr Hubert said the four months project was expected to improve the awareness of community members on the Ebola disease, enhance community surveillance of suspected Ebola cases and other communicable diseases as well as help strengthen the capacity building of community health staff and volunteers to manage suspected Ebola cases.

He said major activities that the project would implement include the training of 44 selected traditional, religious and community leaders including women and youth groups and the vulnerable as Ebola Ambassadors to facilitate education and awareness creation in communities.

“One hundred health workers and 140 volunteers will be trained on Ebola symptoms, signs and referral systems as well as the management of suspected Ebola cases. The project will also support health centres, churches and mosques and community gathering points with hand washing facilities,” Mr Hubert added.

He disclosed that already the project had procured materials including 10 pieces of non-contact thermometers and 100 pieces each of hand gloves, face masks and hand sanitizers to facilitate screening.

He said forty-four bicycles, safety boots and touch lights and 90 pieces of hand washing containers, soap and waste bins had also been distributed to community volunteers, churches, mosques and health facilities.

“WVG committed 661,250 Ghana cedis to the National Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to complement Government and partners’ efforts to prevent, manage and contain the disease. Subsequently WVG has supported the training of health staff and laboratory technicians on Personal Protection Equipment use, sample collection, packaging and transportation.

“ World Vision Ghana has also printed and donated Information Education and Communication materials to the Ghana Health Serviceto facilitate public education,” Mr Hubert said.

Mr George Nonterah, District Chief Executive, lauded the efforts of WVG and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives for partnering with the Government and the district to fight the Ebola disease and appealed to other stakeholders to join.
GNA

Read more here