Ebola Mission donates equipment

The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) has handed over Ebola equipment to the government of Ghana.

The items presented to the Ministry of Health included10 Land Cruisers, three mini buses and two pick-up trucks and other Ebola equipment.

UNMEER’s mandate is due to come to an end by August 31, 2015, having achieved its core objective of leading global efforts to halt the spread of the Ebata disease.

The presentation was, therefore, part of measures to ensure that new cases are effectively handled by not only the affected countries but other countries in the sub-region to set up Ebola country teams’ response.

Yaw Sarfo Adu Amankwah, Protocol Officer, UNMEER, said the items were donated in appreciation of the role the country played in helping the UN fight the Ebola outbreak.

He recalled that in September last year, the government of Ghana gracefully permitted the location of UNMEER headquarters in Ghana which helped to facilitate the Ebola intervention by the UN in the sub-region.

“That was at a time when the deadly virus disease was raging like a wild fire through our sisterly West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and the international community had to respond quickly to the crisis,” he added.

Mr Amankwah said UNMEER’s mandate was to coordinate the provision of medical and logistical supplies and equipment needed to combat the epidemic as well as the deployment of health personnel who had volunteered to assist in the affected countries.

Due to the devastating nature of the disease, the mere mention of Ebola was seen as an abomination, leading to international flights to and from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea being suspended, thus isolating the three countries.

“As president of the regional body, ECOWAS, His Excellency President Mahama had to show leadership and rare courage and he did exactly so by acceding to the UN request to host UNMEER in Ghana,” he said

After 12 months of strenuous effort by national and international partners involved in the response under the leadership of the respective countries, the spread of the deadly disease has been brought to a halt.

“Liberia was declared Ebola-free in June while incidents of new cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone have been brought to the barest minimum. It must be emphasized though that the Ebola virus disease is not completely eradicated from the sub-region, Mr Amankwah noted.

Dr Victor Bampoe, Deputy Minister of Health, acknowledged the items, pointing out that the equipment would be used by disease surveillance teams across the country.