UNAIDS, GHANET hold workshop on Ebola

UNAIDS, the United Nations’ agency that coordinates HIV/AIDS and Ebola programmes, in collaboration with the Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET) and Canadian Government has held a stakeholder sensitisation workshop in Accra on the response to, preparedness and prevention of Ebola.

The purpose of the workshop was to involve participants, drawn from research institutions, the Ghana Health Service, civil society organisations (CSOs), as well as metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, in the formulation of social messages required for public education on the response to, preparedness and prevention of Ebola in Ghana.

Addressing the participants, the UNAIDS Country Director in Ghana, Mr Girmay Haile, underscored the need for public education on the Ebola pandemic and cautioned that the disease was still a threat.

He urged the Ministry of Health, CSOs and other relevant agencies to make available teaching and learning aids required to stimulate the desired behavioural change, to counter the limited knowledge and vulnerability of many citizens.

Mr Haile also stated that it was important to undertake an effective public-awareness campaign on Ebola, just as was done for the HIV/AIDS pandemic during its beginnings.

He therefore urged the government and its relevant agencies to actively collaborate with CSOs such as the Coalition of NGOs in Health to intensify public education through social mobilisation engagements in local communities to educate them on the possible outbreak of Ebola in Ghana.

Media

The President of GHANET, Mr Victor Ntumi, appealed to the media and academia to assist in the public education on the Ebola pandemic.