Let’s step up action against Ebola: ECOWAS
The Chairman of the Authority of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government, President John Dramani Mahama, has called for stronger coordinated efforts to address the slow pace of containment of the Ebola virus disease (EVD).
The collaboration, he said, should manifest in stronger regional and global partnership and greater multi-sectoral support to the epidemic response.
President Mahama was speaking at the opening of a high-level coordination meeting of ECOWAS and its partners on the disease in Accra.
The two-day meeting took stock of the various partner and stakeholder initiatives within the context of an integrated regional response to the Ebola epidemic.
It also provided a platform for the sharing of information on the situation in affected member states.
Since April 2014 when the sub-region confirmed the first case of the disease, a total of 21,086 cases have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, USA, Senegal and Nigeria.
Out of the number, there had been 8,289 reported deaths, most of which were in the three most affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Long way to go
President Mahama said although Guinea had seen some downward trend in reported cases, there was still a long way to go to bring the situation under control.
Sierra Leone and Liberia had also started seeing some signs of reduction, yet they were nowhere near the containment stage.
The ECOWAS chairman stressed the need for increased knowledge on EVD.
Equally important was for the development of a post-EVD reconstruction plan for the affected countries.
Ibn Chambas
The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General's Special Representative to West Africa, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, said the uncontrollable spread of Ebola in West Africa was heartbreaking, especially as it had isolated the three worst affected countries.
He said the World Bank, in its January 12 report, stated that employment in the three countries would drop by 50 per cent this year, while agriculture would face major shortages.
He commended ECOWAS for galvanising regional response to the disease.
Dr Chambas warned that the inability to control the disease could destabilise the political climate of the affected countries.
He gave an assurance of continuous UN support to the Ebola fight.
Gnassingbé
The Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé, who is the ECOWAS Contact Person on Ebola, expressed confidence that with the needed international support and increased awareness about the disease locally, the battle against the epidemic would be won.
ECOWAS President
The ECOWAS President, Mr Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, stressed the need for increased financial and institutional support to ECOWAS in its efforts to fight the disease.
The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Gene A. Cretz, said his country had committed about $900 million in cash and other resources to the Ebola response.