Accra to serve as staging post for Ebola-hit nations

President John Dramani Mahama has lamented the ostracism and neglect countries affected by the deadly Ebola virus have been subjected to.

He said the increasing travel bans and border closures and the recent news of rejection of vessels that dock at Ebola-hit countries have a tendency of adversely affecting the economies of the countries.

President Mahama, who is also the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), has, therefore, opened Ghana’s doors for the dispatch of supplies and personnel to the affected countries.

"I have tasked the Ghana Armed Forces to cooperate with WHO, MSF, WAHO, CDC and other international medical organisations to provide a staging post here in Accra for getting vital supplies and personnel into the affected countries.”

Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been the hardest hit countries since the latest outbreak of the deadly virus.

Almost all the deaths recorded from the disease have been in these countries. Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation, has also had its fair share of the pandemic's effects.

Some countries have banned flights to and fro these countries while their neighbours notably Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire have closed their borders.

“We must implement containment measures, but we must not implement measures that isolate or ostracize the affected countries,” President Mahama told subregional health ministers, who are in Accra for a two-day meeting to find ways of preventing further spread of the disease.

“We must work with sister nations affected by Ebola to overcome this disease,” Ghana’s president said on Thursday, August 28.

President Mahama tasked the health ministers to come out with clear and measurable agenda in the fight against the virus.

The current outbreak of the disease is the deadliest since 1976 when it was first discovered.

It has so far killed over 1,400 people.