Ebola - Ghana on high alert to prevent Ebola outbreak

Source: Daily Graphic Ghana - Ghana remains on high alert to combat any possible Ebola disease despite the major gains in stemming the disease in neighbouring West African countries.

According to the Upper West Regional Deputy Director of Health Services, Mr Owusu Ansah, the successes chalked up in containing the spread of the deadly disease had not made the country complacent in mapping out strategies to prevent the disease from spreading into the country.

At a forum in Wa to brief the media on the region's preparedness in the event of an Ebola outbreak, Mr Ansah said structures and measures instituted earlier during the period of the spread of the disease in neighbouring countries were still in place.

Background

West Africa was ravaged by the disease with the sub-region recording more than 11,300 deaths from over 28,000 reported cases.

Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea were the main countries with recorded cases, while Ghana and some other neighbouring countries were kept on red alert due to proximity, cross-border trade and the movement of people.

During the period, Ghana did not record any case of the virus.

Guinea and Gabon have recently tested and adopted vaccines for the Ebola virus. However, in Ghana, the vaccines are yet to be tested.

Preparedness

Mr Ansah said the lessons from neighbouring countries were good reminders in order to avoid complacency.

He stated that Ghana currently had three well-equipped Ebola treatment centres in Tema, Kumasi and Tamale to cater for the southern, middle and northern zones in event of an outbreak of the disease in the country.

In the rest of the regions, holding bays have been put up as interim points for Ebola cases, while five special ambulances had also been acquired for the Ebola project.

In the Upper West Region for instance, he indicated that the regional hospital recently received a donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) from Tullow Oil for health professionals, saying that work on the hospital’s Ebola facility was nearing completion.

1. What is Ebola, really? South Africa built in 1980`s secret weapons grade Ebola - Was this Ebola strain released intentionally?
   
   
2. Ghana strengthens Ebola surveillance  Source: Graphic Ghana Online - The Ministry of Health (MoH) has strengthened its surveillance system to ensure that Ghana remains free from the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD).
   
   
3. Australia supports Ghana's Ebola preparedness to the Ghana News Agency, signed by the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Joanna Adamson, said: “This contribution will help Ghanaian communities understand and adopt practices that will help minimise the risk of Ebola and other communicable diseases.
   
   
4. Ebola cases rise in 2015 people have died from Ebola since December 2013. Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations special envoy on Ebola, said the small rise in Ebola cases was a concern, but they knew there would be flare-ups.
   
   
5. 488 Health workers die in Ebola fight The two-day meeting, to be followed by a high-level coordination meeting of ECOWAS Heads of State on the fight against Ebola, was to access the progress of the Ebola interventions being carried out in the three affected countries.
   
   
6. Health Minister suspends Ebola vaccine trial ghanawebnews.weebly.com/ghana-news/ebola-vaccine-trial-hits-hohoe-gh200-phones-for-participants-warning Ebola Lie Exposed: THE EBOLA DECEPTION: Vaccine Agenda Fully Exposed - Final Edition [FULL DOCUMENTARY]  1/26/2015 - ...
   
   
7. WHO holds meeting on Ebola recovery plans health systems should be strengthened to mitigate threats posed by catastrophic epidemics such as Ebolaand said, the meeting was therefore to build on lessons learnt and chart the way forward in rebuilding health system that can provide basic health care for all.
   
   
8. FDA okays Ebola for phone vaccine trial ghanawebnews.weebly.com/ghana-news/ebola-vaccine-trial-hits-hohoe-gh200-phones-for-participants-warning Ebola Lie Exposed: THE EBOLA DECEPTION: Vaccine Agenda Fully Exposed - Final Edition [FULL DOCUMENTARY]  1/26/2015 - ...
   
   
9. Ebola vaccine trial: FDA exposes Health Ministry He however failed to mention the particular health minister who gave his approval for the Ebola Vaccine to be tried in Ghana.
   
   
10. ‘Decision to suspend Ebola vaccine trials regrettable’ of Ebola but they developed drugs for the disease for which the whole world is benefiting. To develop vaccines against Ebola is therefore of national interest and stopping the phase 1 trial may hurt our national security and healthcare interests.”
    
    
11. Test Ebola vaccine on gov’t officials – Lawyer Mr. Akuffo also cautioned the general public to abstain from the exercise and not to be induced by the money and mobile phone involved. “Don’t let us buy Ebola with money,” he advised.
    
    
12. Noguchi damns Parliament over Ebola vaccine trial Source: TV3network.com  -  The head of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has expressed surprise at calls made by members of Parliament (MPs) that the ongoing Ebola vaccine trial should be stopped.
    
    
13. Ebola - Screening at ports still ongoing – GHS the Ebola preparedness measures at the various ports. The port health authority in 2014 put in place stringent measures at the various entry and exit points to screen foreign nationals due to Ghana’s proximity to the countries worst affected by the deadly disease.
    
    
14. Cancel debt of ‘Ebola countries’ – Mahama reiterates by Chancellor Merkel, the Norwegian Prime Minister and myself to suggest the setting up of an international panel of eminent persons to investigate the world’s international crisis response in terms of matters to do with health, like we had with the Ebola crisis."
    
    
15. Ghana EBOLA: Prof Dodoo back in Parliament the suspended Ebola vaccine trial in the Volta Region. The hearing – which started on Tuesday, July 14 – saw the science professor rendering an apology for his comments, stating that he did not intend to cast a slur on the respected estate of government.
    
    
16. Ebola Lie Exposed: THE EBOLA DECEPTION: Vaccine Agenda Fully Exposed - Final Edition [FULL DOCUMENTARY] RABIES/EBOLA https://www.federalregister.gov/artic... http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/ebola... 
    
    
17. Trial of Canadian Ebola drug stopped; no overall benefit shown from TKM-Ebola The drug is called TKM-Ebola. It was being tested with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.
    
    
18. Ghana Ebola - Some MPs were ignorant on Ebola trial – Baako insists MPs commenting on an Ebola vaccine trial were simply ‘ignorant’. This is exactly what a WHO scientist, Prof. Alex Dodoo, was alleged to have said and irked Parliament to the extent that he is now facing the dreaded Privileges Committee of the House.
    
    
19. Ghana Ebola - Medical exams at Leklebi SHS not connected with Ebola test in the school was to meet admission requirements. She told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the laboratory tests were therefore not in any way connected to the Ebola vaccine tryouts, planned to be undertaken in the Hohoe Municipal Area.
    
    
20. Ghana Ebola - We were not told to halt Ebola Vaccine trial – FDAin interview on TV3 Network and some other media platforms when responding to calls by some Members of Parliament who had called for the immediate cessation of the Ebola Vaccine trial which was ongoing in the Hohoe Municipality until enough sensitization was made.
    
    
21. Ghana to test Ebola vaccine in Kintampo and Hohoe Source: Starrfmonline.com  -  Ghana is scheduled to begin a trial of an Ebola vaccine by the end of this month.