BY
: Kingsley Komla Adom (25-09-14)
..............thought to have had contact with him were found out
and observed for the 21 day incubation period.
He was returned to his country about a week
ago,today,Senegal has no Ebola case;the latest newsletter from the department
of health reported zero cases in the country.
Senegal
figures;
*Total Case Count : 1
*Total Case Deaths : 0
*Laboratory Confirmed Cases : 1
(Case counts updated in conjunction with the World
Health Organization updates and are based on information reported by the
Ministries of Health ; as of September 21,2014 updated September 25,2014)
Guinea
Elsewhere in Guinea,efforts to fight the disease
continue to get tougher by the days.The fear and paranoia has led to lots of deaths
as misconceptions and myths in the minds of the locals, religious traditions
and ways of life have largely increased the spread of the disease.
Many Guineans believe local and foreign health care
workers are part of a conspiracy which deliberately introduced the virus into
the country.
 |
| angry locals protest against healthcare workers who were on an Ebola education drive in remote Guinean villages |
InMuslim tradition,the dead is supposed to be
washed down by a loved one before the burial.However,Ebola is most contagious
after an infected person dies because of the fluids emitted after their demise.
Shocking reports emerged last week that some eight
people (health care workers,Journalists and Volunteers) who were part of a team
deployed to educate villages in some remote areas about ways to prevent and
deal with relatives who show Ebola-like symptoms,were found dead after having been
attacked by angry locals in the South Eastern part of the country,the Guinean
government spokesperson Damanthang Albert Camara said.
 |
| RED cross workers partially suspended education exercise due to attacks on their lives by the locals |
The Associated Press reported that the response team
was attacked by families of the dead that were being improperly buried in
accordance with the deeply held beliefs in the region;small groups of families
turned into a huge crowd that proceeded to throw rocks at the regional health
office building where the red cross workers were living.
This clearly is an affront to the sustained efforts
being made by authorities to put the spread in check.The attitudes of the
people has got to change if efforts are to yield any meaningful results.
Guinean police have since arrested 27 suspects over
the killings of the eight-member Ebola Education team by locals last
week,Justice minister Cheick Sacko told a news conference in the Guinean
capital,Conakry.
The World Health Organization says more than 700 new
cases of Ebola have emerged in West Africa in just one week,showing the
outbreak is accelerating.
Guinean
figures;
*Total Case Count : 1022
*Total Deaths : 635
*Laboratory Confirmed Cases : 832
(Case counts updated in conjunction with the World
Health Organization updates and are based on information reported by the
Ministries of Health ; as of September 21,2014 updated September 25,2014)
Nigeria
The virus was first recorded after an American
import,who had been to Liberia (Mr. Patrick Sawyer) arrived with the infection
in Lagos on 20th July,and died five days later.Response in Africa’s
most populous state was swift.Nigerian health workers and World Health
Organization epidemiologists monitored more than 200 persons who came into contact
with the infection and discharged those who were cleared after 21 days of
isolation.
A Nigerian female doctor of Ghanaian descent was the
first female to test positive for the virus,and died after having been on
record to have dealt directly with the infected American national who entered
the country with the virus.
In a statement she co-authored with Dr. B.N Ohiaeri (How
Ebola Virus Disease Came To Our Door by First Consultants Hospital) before her
death,Dr. Stella Adadevor explained how the American import was initially
diagnosed with Malaria upon arrival on the night of July 20.
It was when he failed to respond to treatment and
instead began to develop “Hemorrhagic Symptoms” that raised an eyebrow.
“He
denied having been in contact with infected persons at home,in any hospital or
at any burial,” the statement said.
First
Consultant Medical Center then began testing him for
possible infectious Haemorrhagic Diseases especially,Ebola based on the fact
that he had been to Liberia,leading to the diagnosis of the disease in Nigeria.
It was however too little too late for Mr. Patrick
Sawyer who died five days later,and perhaps for Dr. Adadevor who had
unfortunately contracted the disease because of the hospital’s ill-preparedness
at the time to deal with it.
Dr. Stella Adadevor died on Tuesday, August 19,after
having been quarantined.
Hundreds of people who were believed to have come
into contact with the infected persons were kept under surveillance.
 |
| Dr. Stella Adadevor was the first healthcare giver to have contracted the virus after having come into contact with American traveler who brought the virus into Lagos |
This rapidly prompted Social Mobilization efforts to
target key communities and religious leaders as well as among the large chunks
of youths.
All schools in Nigeria were ordered to remain shut
until October 13,as part of quick response measures to prevent the spread.
The Education ministry in that country ordered
that,all state ministries of education were to immediately organize and ensure
that at least two staff in each school;public and private,be trained by
appropriate health workers.
 |
| even Nigerian governors avoided handshakes for fear of ebola |
A great deal was accomplished in such a short
period,as Nigerian emergency operations center was up and running moving
patients to newly modeled treatment facilities,and a further 100+ personnel who
were on the contact-tracing team,were tracking the over 200 people thought to
have come into contact with the infected persons.
While at this,rumors went viral in sections of
Lagos that Salt water was a cure to the disease.But experts were quick to quash
any such assertion,and the public education continued to intensify.
The situation was pretty much contained due in part
to the strong health care systems therein;systems which countries like Liberia
and Guinea barely have.
Happily,and at least for now,Nigeria is free of
active Ebola cases and has released final contacts from surveillance.No new
case is under treatment,there are no suspected cases,the Nigerian Health
Minister confirmed.
President Goodluck Jonathan told an applauding
audience at the UN general assembly in New York,
 |
| Nigerian President,Jonathan confirms to an applauding UN general assembly Nigeria was Ebola-free |
“We
can confidently say that today (September 24),Nigeria is Ebola-free.While
Nigeria was able to respond effectively to control the spread of the
disease,the situation in Liberia and Sierra Leone requires
sustainable,collective global action to contain.Through the concerted efforts
of our healthcare professionals,the World Health Organization and our international
partners,we have been able to contain
the virus,and we can confidently say that,Nigeria is today,Ebola-free.”
For now,we can say,the systems won the battle!
Nigeria
figures;
*Total Case Count : 20
*Total Case Deaths : 8
*Laboratory Confirmed Cases : 19
(Case counts updated in conjunction with the World
Health Organization updates and are based on information reported by the
Ministries of Health ; as of September 21,2014 updated September 25,2014)
Ghana’s
Preparation
Many Ghanaians have rightly questioned the
preparedness of the country,in anticipation of an outbreak,considering we are
unable to even find answers to the soaring numbers of Cholera cases and deaths
being recorded across the country.
 |
| a busy street in Accra |
For a disease outbreak which escalated in March this
year in three West African countries,countries around the continent should by
now (six long months on) be reasonably prepared to tackle it,and to prevent it
altogether from reaching them,with Ghana obviously no exception.
Unlike these unfortunate countries who were
overwhelmed by the disease at a time they were literally clueless about it all,Ghana
and indeed the rest of the world have a huge opportunity to take cues from the
experiences elsewhere,to better prepare themselves in anticipation of an outbreak.
The entry points into the country,the first point of
call ordinarily should be adequately secured to check entrants into the
country.
An isolation center about 400 meters away from the
Kotoka International Airport has been erected to cater for persons who arrive
in the country,and are found to be carrying the virus.Some four ambulances are
reported to have been put on standby,in the event a seriously ill victim
requires referral to the nearest referral point.
 |
| ebola isolation centre around the KIA |
 |
| Kotoka International Airport |
While the Institution of a compulsory screening
exercise to check for the disease at the airport arrival halls is
commendable,little can be said about the many unapproved routes at the border
towns of the country.
It is open secret that many people travel in and out
of the country illegally,and the immigration officers have been struggling to
keep the situation under control.
 |
| a Ghanaian border |
Three isolation centers have been earmarked for
construction in readiness for fighting the disease,and are expected be fitted
and stocked with technical equipment as well as Personal Protective Equipments.
President John Mahama recently announced the release
of GH 6 million to boost the country’s Ebola preparedness,and the procurement
of the PPE’s has to be top of the plan.Government has also constituted an
Inter-ministerial team on the disease,comprising Ministers of
Health,Interior,Defense,Communications and Local Government,chaired by Dr.
Kwaku Agyemang Mensah,the Health Minister.
Government is expected to establish isolation
centres across the country,and the ghanaian minister of health,Dr. Kwaku
Agyemang Mensah announced on September 2,in Tamale that GH 100,000 had been
allocated for each of the ten regional hospitals in the country to facilitate
the construction of Ebola Isolation Centers at these facilities.
Various medical associations (Ghana Medical
Association,Ghana Registered Nurses Association and others) have at one point
or another expressed disappointment at the levels of preparation from the
medical perspective and of course in the area of public education.
Health personnel in various hospitals and clinics
have been reported to have fled their posts when patients manifesting Ebola-like symptoms arrived at these health facilities.
Obviously at huge risks,health professionals have
every right to be concerned at how vulnerable they are when dealing with the
epidemic,especially as many of their colleagues in worst-hit countries have had
to suffer death,after contracting the disease themselves.
Margaret (not her real name),confessed she fled the
hospital she works with the evening a patient showed up with symptoms that mimicked the virus.
“I
run home because there were no Personal Protective Equipments at the
facility,so I was terrified.Thinking it was Ebola because of the symptoms on
exhibit,I left for the house,and began putting things in order.I thought my end
had come.”
“The
blood samples were taken and sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for
testing.Within the time the samples were taken and and when the results were
confirmed,I just could not think straight.That is how vulnerable we the health
officials are”,she added.
She is not alone.Many more medical and hospital
staff have been reported to have done same,for fear of being infected with the
disease which has yet to hit the country.
As of September 10,about 80 suspected cases of the
disease had been investigated in Ghana,but all have proven negative,as
confirmed by the Dr. Kofi Bonny of the Noguchi Memorial Institute at a training
workshop organized by the African Media and Malaria Research Network
(AMMREN-plus) in Accra.
The almost regular media reportage about cases of
dying or already dead persons showing ebola symptoms across the country
continues to terrify the people.
But the public education has picked up,and the media
outlets have joined in the education campaign to sensitize the
people.Television documentaries,as well as those on radio relaying very
important messages about how to prevent the disease and what to do when an individual
suspects the disease,have improved in the past weeks.
World Vision Ghana presented Ebola Information Education
and Communication materials worth GH 457,000 to the Ghana Health Service,to
complement government’s efforts at educating the public about the virus.
The Ghana Health Service itself has organized quite
a number of training and sensitization programmes in this fight.
According to the Deputy minister of communications
who represented the President during a BBCAfrica Debate in Accra last
Wednesday,the country has taken delivery of a further 9,000 Personal Protective
Equipments (PPE’s),which would be distributed to all health centres across the
country,to augment the earlier 1,000 pieces of equipments the country procured.
 |
| Some Personal Protective Equipments |
These,he said,is in line with the aggression with
which the state has been preparing to combat the virus.
Personal experiences of healthcare workers present
at the debate suggested the country still has a long way to go.
Dr. Badu Sarkordie,Head of Disease Surveillance
Department,Ghana Health Service,concedes that the levels of preparedness of the
country as a whole requires more efforts,describing the plan as a processs in
action.
“We
cannot say we are a hundred percent prepared,but we have made progress from
when we started.The circumstances are now different.We have public education
increasing over the period,we have ensured the distribution of PPE’s to
hospitals,and this will continue until we feel we are adequately prepared.”
While preparations from the top level remain
inadequate in the eyes of the people,social mobilization has taken it over to
at least get the information out there to the people.
Social mobilization groups and volunteer health
workers have taken the initiative to do community-to-community educational
outreach,all for the collective good of the country.
 |
| awareness creation on Ebola at this year's chale wote arts festival in james town,Accra |
The launch of #ebolawatch
and #endebola campaigns by some
volunteer individuals on social media has also kept the information flow on the
high;quick facts and relevant prevention tips plus information from Ebola
ravaged countries are made available on social media by these volunteers,led by
a practicing Nurse,Kobby Blay.
 |
| a volunteer group on an Ebola awareness creation exercise in James Town |
Volunteers have had to internally generate resources
to print educational materials;flyers,posters for distribution to dwellers in
James Town,an Accra suburb.
Their request to the Ghana Health Service for some
resource allocation,to up their social mobilization and community educational
drive seems to have hit a snag,despite being assured by Dr. Badu
Sarkordie,their proposals would be examined as soon as possible,to see how best
help could be garnered.
Meanwhile,some churches have banned handshakes and
hugs in their churches,as a measure to reduce as much as possible,the body
contacts among their members,in the face of the spread in countries other
African countries............to be continued
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