‘Support Ebola Response Emergency Hub’
Parliament has described the establishment of the United Nations Ebola Response Emergency Hub (UNMEER) in Ghana as a step in the right direction, and called for support for the centre.
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It said the fight against the disease could not be won with closed borders as some had suggested, and that there was the need for all to join in assisting the countries suffering the outbreak.
The views of the House were contained in a report released by the Health Committee yesterday and was unanimously adopted.
In Parliament, when a report of a select committee is adopted by the plenary, the views expressed therein become the views of the entire House.
Background
Following concerns expressed in the House on the outbreak of Ebola in neighbouring countries and the establishment of the UNMEER hub in Ghana, the Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, directed the ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to brief the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health on the arrangements necessitating the establishment of the centre.
The committee met with the Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang - Mensah, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwesi Quartey, as well as the technical teams of both ministries.
Committee's report
The Chairman of the Committee on Health, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, presenting the committee's report said, among other things, that after careful deliberations with officials of the two ministries, it was clear that Ghana allowed for the establishment of the UNMEER in the country because of its track record on strong health systems and the benefits the country would derive from the logistics to UNMEER.
"Ghana has always led and is a symbol that African countries look up to. Ghana is a trailblazer in Africa and by hosting the hub, the country has achieved another milestone," he said.
He recommended the establishment of command and isolation centres to help isolate Ebola cases and deal effectively with them as soon as possible.
Taking a cue from the effective handling of the Ebola cases in Nigeria and Senegal, Mr Chireh recommended the establishment of quarantine centres across the country to ensure that when and wherever there was an outbreak, the centres would be able to contain the Ebola disease.
Debate
The Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, said that in spite of the advice given against hand shaking, the practice was ongoing.
He said that the shaking of hands was one of the ways through which the disease could be spread, adding that education on the spread of the disease should be intensified using information vans, radio and television, newspapers and fliers.
He said the Ministry of Health needed to ensure that the response centres established so far functioned effectively, adding that Parliament needed to send a firm resolution to the government to take certain actions to prevent the disease from entering Ghana.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Alfred Agbesi, said the Ministry of Health needed to ensure that the few isolation centres in the country were functioning properly.