Personnel to be deployed in Ebola areas undergo training
Selected local health personnel to be deployed to Ebola affected countries are undergoing training at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra.
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The five-day course is also being attended by selected health personnel from other West African countries who are to be deployed to the affected countries alongside their Ghanaian counterparts.
The 150 personnel being trained comprise doctors, nurses and technicians from Ghana, Benin, Niger, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Mali. They would be deployed to the health ministries in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, in coordinated response efforts to defeat the Ebola scourge, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives mainly in the three affected countries.
The joint training and deployment initiative is by the African Union and ECOWAS, through the West African Health Organisation (WAHO). The African Development Bank (AfDB) is providing technical support to the tune of $7.5 million.
Regional respones plan
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo, said the deployment formed part of the regional response plan adopted by the last Assembly of ECOWAS Health Ministers. The essence is to provide substantial support in human resource, to strengthen the health systems of the affected countries in their efforts to contain the outbreak.
The support by the health workers, Mr Ouedraogo explained, would include identification of cases, contact tracing, case management, handling of corpses and strengthening of preventive measures, while revitalising the health systems of the affected countries.
He called on the health personnel to work as a team and said the President of Togo, Mr Faure Gnassingbé, had been designated as the leader of the ECOWAS Rapid Response.
The Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, assured the participants of the government's commitment to fight Ebola with every strategy.
He charged the health personnel to serve as good ambassadors in the countries where they would be deployed.
Related developments
A release issued over the weekend by the Ministry of Health (MoH) said so far 120 suspected Ebola cases had been investigated by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) in Accra but all proved negative.
The cases, according to the MoH, were received from the various health facilities.
That, according to the MoH, showed how vigilant and ready the health facilities were to fight the dosease, should it spread to Ghana.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) is to open an office in Mali to support the country’s efforts against the Ebola.
A release issued by the UNMEER Office in Accra, said the move followed a visit paid by the Head of UNMEER, Mr Anthony Banbury, to Mali and consultations between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali.
Writer's email-rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh