PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Ghana: ECOWAS health ministers appeal to end of flight ban to Ebola-affected countries
Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Health ministers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have made a passionate appeal to airlines to resume operations to Ebola-affected countries for immediate supply of medical items and other assistance to contain the current spread of the deadly disease.
They noted in a communique issued late on Thursday after a one-day meeting in Accra that the current situation was beyond the affected countries, stressing that there was the need for other countries, partners and organisations to assist them.
The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has claimed 1,552 lives in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria in what has been described as the most frightening outbreak since it was first noticed some 40 years ago and is seen as a threat to regional and global public health safety as well as the economic and social security.
In reaction to the outbreak, airlines have banned flights to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone and Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama noted in his opening speech that some of the health ministers from those countries could not attend the meeting because of the flight bans.
The state-owned Ghana News Agency said meeting also appealed to ECOWAS countries that had shut their borders to some of the affected countries to reopen them saying exceptional closure of borders should be a subject of consultation with affected countries since border closure hampered economic productivity.
“Countries are therefore advised to consult one another and seek the views of the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) and WHO if borders exceptionally need to be closed.”
President Mahama noted that in the panic to prevent Ebola, some reactions were rather having a negative effect in isolating and worsening the situation in the affected countries.
Some countries have also placed a ban on vessels that call at ports of affected countries from entering into their ports, which is resulting in some shippers refusing to accept cargo destined for the affected countries.
This, combined with cancellation of flights by many airlines to the affected countries, was creating difficulty in getting vital supplies and personnel into these countries, President Mahama said, adding that affected countries must not be isolated.
The special meeting of the Assembly of Health Ministers was preceded by Health Experts meeting on the theme, “Ensuring synergy of Appropriate Strategies and Efficient Response to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the ECOWAS Region.”
It was attended by health ministers, epidemiological experts from the 15 ECOWAS countries as well as health partners to beef up implementation of strategies to contain EVD outbreak in the sub-region.
It provided an update on the epidemic, reviewed the implementation of recommendations from the various meetings, identified challenges and made recommendations to address them.
The meeting recommended that establishment an ad-hoc Ministerial coordination group made up of ministers of health from affected countries, and the setting up a watchdog Technical Committee to be chaired by Ghana’s Minister of Health to monitor the situation.
It called for the establishment of health and economic humanitarian corridors, provision of financial support for scientific research and rapid contribution of countries and private sector into a fund to control the epidemic.
The health ministers recommended the strengthening of epidemiological surveillance at entry points, strengthening of health facilities through capacity building and establishment of isolation and treatment centres as well as clear and consistent messages to be disseminated to everybody.
In Guinea, there have been 648 cases of EVD, including 482 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 430 deaths; Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and WHO have reported 1,378 clinical cases, including 694 deaths; Nigeria has reported 17 suspected cases, including 13 laboratory-confirmed cases and 6 deaths while Sierra Leone has reported 1,026 suspected cases with 422 deaths.
The ministers urged people in the sub-region not to panic but adhere to the instructions given to them by health experts.
Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, Ghana’s Minister of health, called for the mobilization of the community, religious and political leaders to improve awareness and understanding of disease.
“The crisis we have on our hands is a wake-up call to strengthen our health systems to deliver at all times and as a community to rise up to the challenge of making health the first priority in our development drive,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Deputy Health Minister, Dr Victor Bampoe, has said the African Development Bank (AfDB) has earmarked US$60m for countries affected by the EVD while a further US$150million is available by way of loans and grants to non-Ebola affected countries in the sub-region as part of efforts to mobilise resources to fight disease.
In another development WHO on Thursday released a roadmap to scale up international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa aimed at stopping its devastating transmission worldwide within 6–9 months, while rapidly managing the consequences of any further international spread.
The statement said the roadmap recognizes the need to address, in parallel, the outbreak’s broader socioeconomic impact and responds to the urgent need to dramatically scale up the international response. WHO notes that nearly 40% of the total number of reported cases have occurred within the past three weeks.
The statement said the roadmap was informed by comments received from a large number of partners, including health officials in the affected countries, the African Union (AU), development banks, other UN agencies, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and countries providing direct financial support.
"It will serve as a framework for updating detailed operational plans. Priority is being given to needs for treatment and management centres, social mobilization and safe burials. These plans will be based on site-specific data that are being set out in regular situation reports, which will begin this week."
The WHO roadmap would be complemented by the development of a separate UN-wide operational platform that brings in the skills and capacities of other agencies, including assets in the areas of logistics and transportation.
-0- PANA MA 29Aug2014
They noted in a communique issued late on Thursday after a one-day meeting in Accra that the current situation was beyond the affected countries, stressing that there was the need for other countries, partners and organisations to assist them.
The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has claimed 1,552 lives in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria in what has been described as the most frightening outbreak since it was first noticed some 40 years ago and is seen as a threat to regional and global public health safety as well as the economic and social security.
In reaction to the outbreak, airlines have banned flights to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone and Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama noted in his opening speech that some of the health ministers from those countries could not attend the meeting because of the flight bans.
The state-owned Ghana News Agency said meeting also appealed to ECOWAS countries that had shut their borders to some of the affected countries to reopen them saying exceptional closure of borders should be a subject of consultation with affected countries since border closure hampered economic productivity.
“Countries are therefore advised to consult one another and seek the views of the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) and WHO if borders exceptionally need to be closed.”
President Mahama noted that in the panic to prevent Ebola, some reactions were rather having a negative effect in isolating and worsening the situation in the affected countries.
Some countries have also placed a ban on vessels that call at ports of affected countries from entering into their ports, which is resulting in some shippers refusing to accept cargo destined for the affected countries.
This, combined with cancellation of flights by many airlines to the affected countries, was creating difficulty in getting vital supplies and personnel into these countries, President Mahama said, adding that affected countries must not be isolated.
The special meeting of the Assembly of Health Ministers was preceded by Health Experts meeting on the theme, “Ensuring synergy of Appropriate Strategies and Efficient Response to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the ECOWAS Region.”
It was attended by health ministers, epidemiological experts from the 15 ECOWAS countries as well as health partners to beef up implementation of strategies to contain EVD outbreak in the sub-region.
It provided an update on the epidemic, reviewed the implementation of recommendations from the various meetings, identified challenges and made recommendations to address them.
The meeting recommended that establishment an ad-hoc Ministerial coordination group made up of ministers of health from affected countries, and the setting up a watchdog Technical Committee to be chaired by Ghana’s Minister of Health to monitor the situation.
It called for the establishment of health and economic humanitarian corridors, provision of financial support for scientific research and rapid contribution of countries and private sector into a fund to control the epidemic.
The health ministers recommended the strengthening of epidemiological surveillance at entry points, strengthening of health facilities through capacity building and establishment of isolation and treatment centres as well as clear and consistent messages to be disseminated to everybody.
In Guinea, there have been 648 cases of EVD, including 482 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 430 deaths; Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and WHO have reported 1,378 clinical cases, including 694 deaths; Nigeria has reported 17 suspected cases, including 13 laboratory-confirmed cases and 6 deaths while Sierra Leone has reported 1,026 suspected cases with 422 deaths.
The ministers urged people in the sub-region not to panic but adhere to the instructions given to them by health experts.
Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, Ghana’s Minister of health, called for the mobilization of the community, religious and political leaders to improve awareness and understanding of disease.
“The crisis we have on our hands is a wake-up call to strengthen our health systems to deliver at all times and as a community to rise up to the challenge of making health the first priority in our development drive,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Deputy Health Minister, Dr Victor Bampoe, has said the African Development Bank (AfDB) has earmarked US$60m for countries affected by the EVD while a further US$150million is available by way of loans and grants to non-Ebola affected countries in the sub-region as part of efforts to mobilise resources to fight disease.
In another development WHO on Thursday released a roadmap to scale up international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa aimed at stopping its devastating transmission worldwide within 6–9 months, while rapidly managing the consequences of any further international spread.
The statement said the roadmap recognizes the need to address, in parallel, the outbreak’s broader socioeconomic impact and responds to the urgent need to dramatically scale up the international response. WHO notes that nearly 40% of the total number of reported cases have occurred within the past three weeks.
The statement said the roadmap was informed by comments received from a large number of partners, including health officials in the affected countries, the African Union (AU), development banks, other UN agencies, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and countries providing direct financial support.
"It will serve as a framework for updating detailed operational plans. Priority is being given to needs for treatment and management centres, social mobilization and safe burials. These plans will be based on site-specific data that are being set out in regular situation reports, which will begin this week."
The WHO roadmap would be complemented by the development of a separate UN-wide operational platform that brings in the skills and capacities of other agencies, including assets in the areas of logistics and transportation.
-0- PANA MA 29Aug2014
