We can’t afford to lose against Ebola
We have had to return to the issue of the Ebola viral disease (EVD) because of its deadly nature and the need for all Ghanaians to take the necessary precautionary measures to help contain it in the event of it spreading to the country.
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Ebola, which is transmitted through (direct) contact with the bodily fluids of a person infected with fever, muscle aches, red eyes, diarrhoea, vomiting and symptoms of bleeding, has been taking a toll on West Africans for some months now.
The disease, experts say, has a high case fatality rate of 50 to 90 per cent.
Figures from the World Health Organisation indicate that between the time of the first reported case of the disease and now, nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.
Fortunately, although Ghana’s immediate western neighbour, Cote d’Ivoire, has recorded some cases, we in Ghana have as yet not had any confirmed case of the disease, in spite of the frequent cases of suspected Ebola in the past weeks which have all proved negative after tests.
The Daily Graphic is, however, worried over reports from Bawku, Nsawam and the Buduburam Refugee Camp in the past few days.
In Bawku, the municipal health directorate is awaiting results on a Burkinabe who had died at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital with symptoms of the disease, while in Nsawam three patients who reported at the Government Hospital with blood in their urine or faeces have had their blood samples taken to the Nogouchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for tests.
At the Buduburam Camp, health officials there have expressed worry over the death of 10 people within the past three months (the last occuring on Friday, August 8) under what they described as ‘unexplained’ circumstances.
Not too long ago, the disease surveillance system in the country was put on high alert through the intensification of viral haemorrhagic fever surveillance and a system of screening all passengers, especially those from countries that had reported cases of the disease.
Health facilities were also to set up isolation centres to deal with the virus in the event of the outbreak of the disease. These brought all Ghanaians a ray of hope that we would be able to contain the disease.
We congratulate the Bawku Municipal Health Directorate on setting up an “Ebola Response Team” to execute the hospital’s plan to prevent residents of the area from being infected.
According to the municipal health director, the directorate was working with volunteers in carrying out sensitisation programmes at markets, in schools, churches and mosques.
We urge all regional and district health directorates to follow the Bawku example, if they have not already done so, to ensure that the dreaded Ebola is kept at bay. It is our hope that the Ministry of Health will provide all health facilities the needed inputs to fight the disease.
We failed the cholera test but cannot afford to fail in the case of Ebola.
Let us all remember that unlike cholera, there is no cure yet for Ebola.