Ebola prevention: Rigorous screening awaits Ecowas Health Ministers

Government has given the strongest indication that each delegate attending the Conference on Ebola for health ministers of West Africa will be subjected to rigorous screening as a result of the Ebola contagion.

Health ministers of member states of the Economic Community of West Africa States (Ecowas) are scheduled to be in Ghana for the two-day Conference, which opens on Thursday, August 28.

Already, health experts from the sub-region are in the country discussing ways to quell the spread of the deadly viral disease, which has so far killed more than 1,000 people including health workers.

Speaking to TV3’s Narkwor Kwabla on Tuesday, August 26, the Head of the Public Relations at the Ministry of Health, Dan Osman Mwin, hinted that even auxiliary officers following the health ministers will undergo screening.

“We can’t say because they are ministers of health we should just allow them to enter the country,” Mr Osman Mwin said.

“Since we have not had any reported case of Ebola, we have to make sure that we screen all of them. So that is the decision Ghana has taken,” he stated.

He said the country’s international airport, Kotoka International Airport, has been well-prepared to screen the at least 80 delegates.

“Those who might come by road from Nigeria, Togo or Benin would as well be screened at the Aflao border,” Mr Osman Mwin added.

He continued that health workers will also position themselves at the venue of the Conference “to still keep our eyes on all delegates.”

A recommendation will follow the Conference to inform Ecowas' Authority of Heads of State and Government over the next line of action on the virus.

Chairman of the bloc, John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, last week hinted of an emergency meeting of the Authority in Accra "if necessary".