The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has charged health workers at the Ghana Airports Company to stand firm and keep the gates of Ghana safe from Ebola.
The Minister made the call when he paid a working visit to the Kotoka International Airport in Accra to assess the country’s state of preparedness against the deadly virus.
The visit also afforded him the opportunity to inspect the newly installed electronic declaration forms and terminal scanners, which screen passengers at the point of entry.
Addressing the media, Mr Akandoh emphasised that although Ghana has not recorded any case of Ebola, there was no cause for alarm.
“Even though Ghana has not recorded any case of Ebola, there is no need absolutely no need to press the panic buttons. That notwithstanding, we have put a lot of measures in place,” he stated.
He noted, however, that the situation demanded vigilance, given the nature of the circulating strain.
“This strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo virus, has no vaccine and no specific treatment, so our best defence is to keep our gates tight, because early detection and contact tracing will help us contain it if we record any case,” the Minister explained.
Mr Akandoh said the visit was also to verify that all measures proposed in May are being implemented, including the installation of thermal scanners at the airport to beef up surveillance.
“In May, the Ministry of Health instructed the installation of thermal scanners at the airport to beef up surveillance, and you have all seen for yourselves that it is in place,” he said.
He added that he has directed port health officials to make the electronic declaration form compulsory for all arriving passengers, following amendments to the form, with an official statement to be issued shortly.
On testing capacity, the Minister disclosed that the country’s laboratory network is being expanded from three to five laboratories, including Noguchi, KCCR and the reference laboratory.
He said the Infectious Disease Centre also stands ready for isolation and treatment.
“We are praying we don’t record any case, but if we do, we are ready to do the needful,” he assured.
Responding to concerns about coordination following last week’s WHO press briefing, the Minister rejected suggestions that Ghana is the only country in the sub-region yet to record a case, pointing to Togo and Côte d’Ivoire as examples that made such a claim inaccurate.
He said coordination was ongoing at multiple levels — through Africa CDC, the WHO, health ministers and directors-general of health services across the region.
On funding, Mr Akandoh said government had not earmarked a specific amount but would commit resources “as and when necessary,” including the procurement of PPEs, thermal scanners and logistics for the electronic declaration form.
The Minister further disclosed that he had directed port health officials to be trained to politely insist on proper hand sanitisation and screening for all arriving passengers.
“Diseases are not respectful of anybody, so both at the VIP level and everywhere, anybody who arrives must go through the processes. For me, this is the most important exercise at this place,” he stressed.
Asked whether similar screening was ongoing at the land borders, the Minister answered in the affirmative but acknowledged the need for strengthening, saying the country is scaling up efforts to deploy more health personnel to the land borders.
source:www.senaradioonline.com
