N°: 221/2014
24 November 2014 [Accra-Ghana]
ECOWAS is deploying a three-pronged strategy of prevention, containment and eventual elimination in its response to the Ebola outbreak in the region that has killed some 5,444 people in three Member States of the Community, President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Kadre Desire Ouedraogo has said.
In a speech at the opening of a five-day training workshop for some 150 volunteer health officers from seven of the region’s 15 Member States, the President said the three strategies were designed to respond to the various dimensions of the outbreak and urged the officers to see themselves as soldiers in this regional fight against the disease.
The officers who are from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal, are being trained ahead of their deployment to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to reinforce ongoing national, regional and international efforts to deal with the outbreak in those countries.
The President used the opportunity to acknowledge “remarkable solidarity demonstrated by ECOWAS Member States” since the outbreak in March 2014 and paid tribute to the memories of thousands of those that have fallen victims, including local and foreign health workers who paid the ultimate price in helping the region confront the epidemic.
He assured that the Commission would take all relevant measures to comply with the directives of Heads of State and Government of the region, who have been resolute in their commitment to its eradication, in dealing with the outbreak
“Today’s meeting to kick-off the training for regional health officers to be deployed to fight the Ebola virus disease in the three most affected countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is indeed a demonstration that we are committed to responding collectively to this regional challenge”, the Commission President stated.
Speaking in the same vein, Ghana’s Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, whose country currently chairs the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, highlighted the grim statistics associated with the outbreak which has affected some 14,000 persons with Liberia alone accounting for more than 2,800 of the fatalities.
The Ebola virus disease has no borders; the first case recorded in Guinea spread rapidly to neighbouring States, while countries outside the continent such as the United States, Spain and Norway also recorded victims, “clearly demonstrating the global nature of the fight”, the Minister concluded.
Major General Obed Akwa, commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peace-keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), which is hosting the workshop, had earlier welcomed participants while Laurent Assogba, Assistant Director General of the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), an ECOWAS specialized institution, gave valuable insight into the characteristics of this terrible disease.
Dr. Assogba commended the volunteers, comprising of doctors, nurses, technical experts on sanitation and hygiene, for their interest to serve the community in the affected countries so as to contribute to the expedited elimination of the epidemic.
He assured them of the duty of ECOWAS to protect them and assist in ensuring that they work in an atmosphere of peace while returning to their respective families in safety and good health at the end of their three month service.
At the end of the workshop, which is jointly organised by WAHO, the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the volunteers are expected to be deployed to the three countries to reinforce their health officials in combating the disease.
The training is part of the regional response plan adopted by the last Assembly of ECOWAS Ministers of Health held in Accra at the end of August 2014, designed to provide substantial support in human resources to the health system of affected countries in its effort to contain the epidemic.
This it so help strengthen the capacity for intervention in the three most affected countries, identify cases, improve care for patients, monitor contacts, set up preventive measures, and manage the bodies of victims, while revamping their overall health system.