Put AFCON on hold
Ghanaians have spoken and it is loud and clear. They are not ready to sacrifice their health and risk death from Ebola in exchange for football.
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Football is the passion of the nation no doubt, and the fans would love to enjoy a good game anytime. But when the people are vehemently against the proposed hosting of AfCON 2015 in Ghana, then it is time to stop and listen to them.
The stiff opposition is not based on any flimsy excuses but the looming threat to their very existence as a people because of Ebola, the most dreaded disease of the century. So infectious is the disease that the least contact with an infected person results in a fatality.
With very minimal survival rate among infected people, a number of health workers who attended to patients even in protected gear succumbed to the virus and lost their lives in a matter of days.
Presently, countries world wide are taking stringent measures including limiting flights from West Africa into their countries. Compared to Ghana, these countries have better healthcare facilities with research support to at least stabilise Ebola patients and reduce the infection and fatality rates.
Luckily , Ghana has so far been spared the scourge and the passion for football not withstanding, we do not nilly- willy have to indulge in practices that will expose us to the infection.
A number of organisations, including the Ghana Medical Association and the Noguchi Memorial Research Institute, have expressed their opposition to the idea of Ghana hosting the tournament.
Thankfully, the powers that be have assured the people of this nation that no decision had been taken but the issue is, what is preventing them from totally rejecting the proposal? If Morocco and South Africa are not prepared to host the popular game for fear of Ebola, why should Ghana even contemplate the idea?
The Mirror wants to add its voice to the calls to the organisers of the AFCON tournament to put the competition on hold till the disease blows over. Africa cannot sacrifice its people for the sake of a game.
Ghana must also dedicate more time in educating its citizens about the threat of the disease since experts have predicted that we are highly at risk of infection. The focus should be on providing more logistics to health facilities and entry points to ensure early detection and control of any likely case .
We should take lessons from the recent cholera outbreak which swept through the country and bear in mind that Ebola is even more infectious and deadly . Our expectation, therefore, is for government to boldly reject the idea of hosting not only football, but any other international game that would warrant the mass movement of people.
No matter the advantages that we stand to derive from hosting such tournaments, presently, the safety and health of the people should be our priority and the citizens have declared their stance that AFCON should be put on hold.