There is a saying in Akan “wo nim
ewuo aa hw3 nda” meaning, if you
don’t know how death looks like take
a look at sleep.
In 2014, cholera still remains an
epidemic Ghana has been unable to
effectively combat and now, we have
to deal with almighty Ebola disease
which we are told is the deadliest
virus the world has seen.
The virus has affected residents in
Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Nigeria but some way, somehow,
Ghana still looks quite unprepared to
battle the disease.
In March 2014, Parliament issued an
alert and called for an “urgent
national preparation” for the possible
outbreak. (http://
www.citifmonline.com/2014/03/26/
ghana-mps-issue-ebola-alert/) but
here we are, still clueless about what
to do.
The Ghana Health Service kept telling
Ghanaians it has “put measures” in
place to prevent a possible
outbreak .It claimed it has trained
health workers but the Ghana Medical
Association says it is not ready to
deal with an outbreak. (http://
www.citifmonline.com/2014/07/28/
ghana-not-ready-to-battle-ebola-
gma/).
I am convinced at this stage that
99.9% of medical officers will stay
away if there is an outbreak in Ghana.
Citizens have been told that officials
manning Ghana’s borders are
equipped to handle Ebola cases but
the Ghana Immigration Service has a
different opinion. (http://
www.citifmonline.com/2014/07/29/
immigration-service-ill-equipped-to-
battle-ebola-palmdetti/).
The issue of illegal entries into the
country still remains a serious matter
if not urgently addressed will lead to
the entry of other nationals who have
been infected with the disease.
Can somebody tell the President that
we may have self inflicted economic
crisis on our hands but we prefer to
stay alive. We will all chose to live
rather than die.
Five months since Ebola broke out in
neighbouring West African countries,
major hospitals in Ghana do not have
what it takes to test a patient for the
virus.
All blood samples have to make a trip
to Noguchi and back before a blood
test is confirmed negative or
otherwise.
The hypothetical situations are over.
The “if Ebola should cross into
Ghana” statements are over because
Ebola is coming – if it is not here
already!
I know the press conference by the
Ghana Health Service and the
Communication Ministry was just the
usual talk shop. You all know by now
that holding press conferences and
announcing measure always do not
reflect the true state of affairs on the
ground. When you hear “Measures
have been put in place” or “Measures
are being taken” “scoff at it! Because
it means in actual terms “we are
pretending to work”.
To date, health workers still do not
have the full set of protective gears. I
am even informed that some health
facilities which have managed to
create isolation centres have them
situated very close to other facilities.
How long did it take government to
run television and radio adverts on
the 17.5 % Value Added Tax (VAT)?
Yet it’s almost eight months since
the Ebola outbreak and very little is
being done to sensitize people.
Months down the line, there are no
adverts to create awareness on TV,
local radio stations, information
centres posters on Ebola. Nigeria has
begun intensive sensitization after
losing two people to Ebola. Believe it
or not, people are not aware of Ebola.
Interviewing some random Ghanaians
on what they know about Ebola virus
revealed only one in five people had a
fair idea of what the disease is. One
woman said the disease is airborne
but went ahead to say you can
contract it by eating bush meat.
Others don’t believe the disease
exists.
People are not aware! Those who are
aware have very little and inaccurate
information. I won’t even talk about
our village folks.
What is the information services
departments doing? The NCCE should
probably get involved. People should
be trained and armed with
information to go round education
people. You don’t sit in the city and
assume everybody is aware of Ebola -
not in a country so superstitious like
ours.
The WHO estimates that the virus is
likely to continue spreading at least
until the year ends. A professor at the
University of London admitted on the
BBC on Tuesday 29th July that not
much is being done to find a cure or
vaccine to Ebola.
Now a serum seems to be working for
two American doctors who have the
disease but “the president of the
world” Barack Obama says what
seems like a cure to Ebola should not
be sent to West Africa yet.
So, for now, all we can do is to take
preventive measures and pray as we
remain our typical African selves and
wait for a western solution to this
problem. In the meantime let me
continue to remind you that we are
from Africa a continent saddled with
useless leaders giving useless and
clueless leadership.
Take care and know that no life lost
to Ebola will be accounted for. In fact
no life lost in Ghana is accounted for.
Author: Betty Kankam-Boadu
bkankamboadu.blogspot.com
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