Coalition of NGOs in Health appeal to gov’t on Ebola

The Coalition of NGOs in Health has appealed to government to ensure that money meant for combating the Ebola virus was not used for the payment emoluments, transport and hotel bills of consultants.

A press statement signed by the Chairman of the Coalition, Mr Alagskomah Asakeya Noble and the Secretary, Mr Thomas Abagmbire and issued to the GNA in Bolgatanga, said the Coalition has noted that the protective gear and other safety materials for health workers at the hospitals and border entry points against the Ebola virus were woefully inadequate.

“Whilst commending the President of Ghana for ordering the release of GHC 6 Million for the necessary logistics in readiness to combat the anticipated deadly virus, Government must ensure that the money is used for the intended purpose and not to allow a good portion of the money to go into organizing workshops and paying for travel and transport and hotel bills of consultants, as is always the case in many situations in the country”

The Coalition also expressed concern about the situation where corpses are kept for a number of days and eventually decompose before burial and stressed that such practices posed serious health risk to all persons involved and the communities, they therefore appealed to traditional authorities to prevail upon their communities to avoid all traditional burial practices that could promote the spread of the virus.

“The public should also be very cautious in their relationships, especially body contacts with immigrants since they cannot be sure of their Ebola virus status. The call for a reduction in bodily contacts such as handshakes and hugging in churches by some ministers of God as prevention strategies is also laudable and commendable”.

The Coalition further added its voice to the call by the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, for the suspension of the sale and consumption of bush meat until it was safe to do so and also appealed to all private and public health facilities to adhere strictly to safety measures adopted by the Ghana Health Service to prevent people from contracting the deadly Ebola virus.

It said as a Coalition of NGOs in Health, it would collaborate closely with the Ghana Health Service Directorate to embark upon a rigorous sensitization programme in the region to support the Directorate to combat any Ebola outbreak.

The statement commended the Immigration Officials and Health Port staff in the various border posts, especially those in the Upper East Region, who recently expelled some immigrants from Sierra Leone, who were trooping into the country through the Paga border without the necessary Ebola clearing documents.

“We are therefore calling on government to further strengthen the capacity of the immigration officials to afford them the leverage to effectively stem the spread of the disease from neighboring countries into Ghana.

The Government should also swiftly resource the Ghana Health Service to be able to screen the travelling public at the boarders”, it concluded.