Parliament urges action to counter threat of Ebola virus

Parliament on Wednesday called for a national pre-emptive strategy to contain the growing threats of the deadly Ebola Virus that has occurred in some West African countries, should it hit Ghana.

The Legislators contend that the emerging situation in Guinea and Liberia is very troubling, because the virulent disease had the potential of affecting Ghana, which has the same limitation in terms of medical infrastructure with its neighbours, whose health officials have been battling to contain the epidemic since it broke out.

Thus, the House has urged urgent wide-ranging stakeholder consultation to initiate action and constituent relevant teams to mitigate the effects of the highly contagious disease that is occurring in West Africa for the first time.

The Lawmakers were contributing to an urgent statement made on the floor of Parliament by the MP for Wa West, Joseph Yieleh Chireh drawing attention to Ghana’s vulnerability to the “molecular shark”, as some publications have branded the virus, because of the country’s proximity to other bloc states that are reeling under the effect of the hemorrhagic fever that has so far claimed over 50 lives.

Mr Chireh recommended that the Ministries of Health, Interior, Foreign Affairs and the National Security should urgently set up an inter-agency taskforce to monitor the situation from the country’s entry points and take steps to stock relevant medicines.

He also advised that such a taskforce prepared an emergency team for eventualities and that intensive public education and awareness creation should be initiated on the Ebola virus.

Dr Richard Anane, the MP for Nyhiaso stressed the need for Ghana to prepare effectively “because the virus is very close” and the consequences very severe.

He advised that any education on the issue should target the how and why people could contract the disease, urging Ghanaian to avoid the consumption of unwholesome game, popularly called bushmeat.

He also urged the Ministries of Health and Agriculture to engage their counterparts in the sub-region to determine the spread of the disease and take measures to contain it.

The MP for Biakoye, Emmanuel Kwesi Banduah also advised that Ghana should stand in readiness in the eventuality that the disease hits the country and urged relevant agencies to carry out intensive education on the matter.

Speaker Edward Doe Adjaho directed that those concerns be forwarded to the relevant ministries for action.

The Ebola virus is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is near one of the first of two simultaneous outbreaks that occurred in 1976. The virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever.

Symptoms include severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea. Afterwards, organs shut down, causing unstoppable bleeding. No vaccine or drug has been created to treat the virus and its fatality rate may rise as high as 90 of all who develop the virus.

The virus is transmitted to humans from wild animals and between humans by direct contact with blood, sweat, sexual contact and unprotected handling of contaminated corpse. Scientist warn that the epidemic risks spreading due to mobility – both among humans and animals.