Keeping Ebola at bay
Last Thursday, Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met at a two-day extraordinary summit at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra to discuss the Ebola disease and to review regional response to the crisis.
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This followed on the heels of Ghana being selected as the headquarters of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER).
The disease, which has killed close to 5000 people in three countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – remains the most devastating epidemic to have struck the world in recent decades.
Evidence abounds that the disease is not a respecter of geographic location, exemplified in two advanced countries, the United States and Spain, recording some infections.
Ebola currently remains the single most potent threat that stares the world in the face, particularly for the affected countries and the sub-region.
Unfortunately, the UN, the global grouping that should be at the helm of efforts to stem the spread of the disease and to mitigate the effects on affected countries, complains of lack of resources.
In the midst of the challenge posed by inadequate resources, the Head of UNMEER, Mr Anthoy Banbury reveals that in the countries worst affected by the outbreak, transmission remains persistent and widespread, particularly in the capital cities.
Despite the disease’s disregard for boundaries, we are still grateful to God for sparing Ghana an incident but as the local adage that when translated says essentially that ‘when your neighbour’s beard catches fire, you fetch water and place it by your side’ goes, we must as a country demonstrate our preparedness not only to manage an incident but to prevent its occurrence.
It is heart-warming to note that steps have been taken to tighten security at the various entry points of the country and disseminate adequate information to all parts of the country in getting the people sensitised to the disease.
When Ghana decided to host the headquarters of UNMEER, questions were raised as to whether that meant Ebola patients would be brought to Ghana for treatment. But explanations later on allayed that fear.
But our country must build the capacity of its health practitioners, as well as the various institutions that would have a direct linkage to the response to Ebola.
For example, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, which has handled the testing of all alleged cases of infection, must be well resourced to play the pivotal role that comes with Ghana being the hub.
An Ebola incident may not have been recorded here in Ghana but its effects on the affected countries have far-reaching implications that we cannot as a nation just gloss over.
Our response must not only be in expressions of sympathy but those expressions must be accompanied by tangible resources that would go a long way to alleviate the plight of those who have been orphaned by the pandemic.