Parliament gives ‘Ebola committee’ one week to set up response center

Parliament’s Select Committee on Health has given the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service seven days within which to put up a 24-hour response center over the Ebola virus.

The Committee expressed unhappiness with preparations on Ebola so far without recourse to the Inter-ministerial Team on Ebola, which is chaired by the Health Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah.

At a workshop held for stakeholders in the health sector in Accra on Tuesday, August 19, Joseph Yieleh Chireh, the Chairman of Parliament’s Select Committee, directed the Health Ministry and the Health Service to set up the response center in order to provide regular, timely and official information on Ebola in the country.

The participants at the workshop – who are mostly health experts – demanded a single authoritative source for handling information on the deadly virus, which has so far claimed over 1,200 lives in West Africa, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to the participants, national response to the disease has not been coherent; hence, many rumors about the disease in the country.

Professor Alex Dodoo, the Director of WHO’s Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance, lamented the country’s slow response to the pandemic, blaming that on lack of a single information source.

He, therefore, asserted that Ghanaians have cause to worry since the country, from indications, is practically not prepared for an Ebola outbreak, citing weak health systems and weak surveillance.

Dr Agyemang-Mensah, on his part, admitted that the personnel protective equipment (PPE) have not been enough though 10,000 have been distributed so far.

He said arrangements have been made for more to be given health workers.