Health Minister hot over Ebola Vaccine trial deal

Parliament has summoned Health Minister, Alex Segbefia to answer nagging questions about the proposed phase one Ebola vaccine trial to be held in the Volta Region.

The minister is scheduled to appear before the House tomorrow and answer questions on the vaccine trial, which has generated heated controversy, leading to its suspension.

Last week, an urgent statement was presented on the floor of Parliament by Emmanuel Bedzrah, Ho West Member of Parliament (MP) on behalf of the Volta Caucus and called for suspension of the exercise until proper consultation and information is given to the public.

Mr. Bedzrah in his statement said, “as representatives of the people we owe it a duty to our constituents to ensure their safety and wellbeing and we will stop at nothing to ensure that.

“We wish through this statement to humbly request you to invite the Minister of Health to come to this House to brief us fully on this matter,” he added.

Mr. Bedzrah further stated that they were not against clinical trials in the country, but they could not accept the situation where the proposed trial is carried out without proper communication and interaction with major stakeholders in the region.

The Ho West MP added that MPs from the region have been “inundated with phone calls from panic-stricken constituents who believe that this trial is aimed at spreading the dreaded Ebola disease in the Volta Region.”

He noted that they could not blame the constituents because there was no proper sensitization and community engagement before the investigators started recruiting persons to be used for the trials.

They were informed that students of the Hohoe Midwifery School were made to fill out forms and promised GH¢200.00 and a mobile phone each if they were to volunteer to be used for the exercise.

Other members took turns to condemn the trial and urged the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho to stop the exercise in any part of the country.

The Speaker, thus, advised that the exercise be stopped and the Health Minister summoned to brief the House.

The Health Ministry also suspended the exercise following the public outcry until the Minister returns from his trip.

The Health Minister is also expected to answer five additional questions on some infrastructure projects in some constituencies.

Some of the questions will dwell on the date specialist doctors and other medical specialists would be posted to the Winneba Medical and Trauma Hospital to ensure effective performance; and what plans the Ministry has to provide the Kwabre East District Hospital a new ward to replace the old one which has only ten beds.

Other questions will seek to know when the Osino Health Centre will be upgraded into a hospital; and what plans are in place to complete the construction of the maternity building at Tema General Hospital which commenced some five years ago and whether the Ministry has any plans to establish a nursing and midwifery training institution in the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality.

Four other ministers expected to answer questions during the week are Local Government and Rural Development minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda; Youth and Sports, Dr. Alhaji Mustapha Ahmed; Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur and Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini.