Japan donates Ebola preventive kit to Ghana

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Monday presented 128 non-contact hand-held thermometers to Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ghana Health Service (GHS) to support the country’s preparedness against the Ebola Viral Disease (EVD).

The items are specialised thermometers that are used in screening, detecting and managing EVD.

Mr Kaoru Yoshimura, Ambassador of Japan said the specialised thermometers are expected to be circulated to Rapid Response Teams across the country and to isolation centres to strengthen screening, case detection and management of the EVD.

Mr Yoshimura said Japan has at the international level, been actively engaged with other governments and organisations as part of its support to halt the spread of EVD in the West-African sub-Region.

He said his government, through JICA continuously supports Ebola training for case management through GHS and laboratory equipment for case detection by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.

He said Japan had so far provided 45 million dollars towards the fight against Ebola, and would provide a further assistance of 100 million dollars in a continuous and timely manner to respond more effectively to the EVD.

He said: “These interventions form critical aspects of our support for Ghana’s National Preparedness and Response Plan for prevention and containment of Ebola”, and pledged sustained support towards the response to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Bayer HealthCare, a private company, in another development presented 20,000 fliers containing educational information on the EVD.

Mr Clement Owusu Addo, Head of Bayer HealthCare in Ghana said the fliers were developed in consultation with MOH and had been pre-tested by the Ministry and approved for public education on the EVD.

Dr Victor Asare Bampoe, Deputy Minister of Health, thanked the donors for their support towards Ghana’s preparedness towards the prevention of an outbreak of Ebola.

He referred to the gestures as an excellent move worth emulating and called on other organisations to support the fight against the spread of the EVD.