AU Commission Chairperson pledges support for Ghana’s campaign against Ebola
The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has pledged support for Ghana’s lead campaign against the further spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa.
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She conferred with Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday before the start of a tour of the three Ebola affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Dr Zuma said she saw it prudent to call on the Vice-President in view of President John Mahama’s position as the Chairman of ECOWAS before heading for her mission to the three countries.
She expressed concern over the ravaging effect of the virus on the continent and called for international support for the affected countries, describing the situation as dire.
She called on governments on the continent to unite in their resolve to fight the outbreak and pledged the AU’s support in that regard.
Vice-President
Mr Amissah-Arthur said given the porous nature of the country’s borders, measures had been put in place to screen people who entered through those routes.
He said Ebola had now become not only a health concern but also a life-time problem and urged the affected countries to start planning on what he described as “post-Ebola” activities with respect to picking the pieces together and moving on.
The Vice-President decried the level of complacency in the country in terms of public education on the Ebola Virus Disease and stressed the need for more public education on the virus, which is reported to have claimed about 4,500 lives.
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Health Minister
The Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, told the delegation that the country had put in place an effective case management policy, as well as stepped up its screening efforts.
He said 108 samples that had been taken to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for testing had proved negative and stressed that in spite of the development, Ghana was not complacent.
He briefed the delegation on the three Ebola treatment centres that had been set up in Tema, Kumasi and Tamale.
Writer’s email: sebastian.syme@graphic.com.gh