UNISPHERE, UNAIDS sensitise James Town on Ebola

UNISPERE Ghana has organised an Ebola sensitisation programme for residents of James Town in Accra to enlighten them on the causes and effects of the disease.

The programme which was organised at the weekend included variety of activities including drama and talk on the disease; football competition and art performances.

Mr Girmay Haile, Country Director for the United Nations Agency for International Development (UNAIDS) delivering the keynote address said though Ghana has not reported any case of Ebola yet, it is at high risk of the disease.

He said there are health and surveillance systems for collecting and managing data as well as an expertise for mounting a rapid and effective response that need to be prepared and supported for effective response should the need arises.

Mr Haile noted that there are various cultural and social practices that facilitate transmission of Ebola disease that require serious social and community synthetisation efforts to correct harmful practices.

The Country Director disclosed that the government and the United Nations have collaboratively developed preparedness plan for Ebola.

“The UN preparedness plan, which is closely aligned to the National Ebola Preparedness Plan, focuses on Surveillance, Situation Monitoring and Assessment; Social Mobilisation and Risk Communication; Case management, infection prevention and control; Coordination and Advocacy; Logistics; Security and Financial Resources”, he said.

He explained that the UNAIDS HIV social mobilisation action plan is a perfect fit for social mobilisation for Ebola.

He said the HIV response is an excellent example to address Ebola awareness among communities.

“We aim to increase public knowledge on the transmission and dangers of the Ebola disease, change attitudes and practices, address stigma and other factors that can potentially fuel its spread”, he said.

Mr Haile said the campaign would facilitate efforts to address stigma and other factors that could potentially fuel its spread.

Mr Ernest Ortsin, Executive Director of UNISPHERE Ghana said the body finds the sensitisation necessary because it has been notified that the disease is not entirely gone.

“Contrary to what we all think, Ebola is not gone at all because there are pieces of evidence from places like Sierra Leone and Guinea showing that Ebola is resurfacing; and there was a recent case where two Ebola negative couple gave birth to a boy who was positive indicating that the disease is taking a new form just as HIV.”

He said among the activities UNISPHERE would organise is a training programme for peer educators in the James Town Community and other communities; as well as a house-to-house education of individuals on the disease.

Explaining the selection of community for the sensitisation campaign, Mr Ortsin said the James Town Community was chosen because it is densely populated with some culture that could makes diseases easily spread.

“This is an area where the people love their culture and customs so much even though some of their practices are not helpful such as performing widowhood rights and how to handle dead bodies; therefore we found this place as the right environment for this programme,” he said.

The Executive Director urged the public to strengthen the District response teams by procuring the right equipments to help their operations and ensure their preparedness.

UNISPHERE is a non-governmental organisation that undertakes different responsibilities and activities including health related initiatives.

The sensitisation programme was sponsored by UNAIDS and Ghana HIV & AIDS Network.