Media urged to explain Ebola vaccine uptake comprehensively

Dr Alexis M. Nang-Beifubah, the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, has called on the media to help erase the misconceptions surrounding the Ebola vaccine trials.

The health director, who was answering questions at a media briefing as to why health personnel were not used for the test process, said the vaccine would need ‘virgin grounds’ - people from the rural areas who do not have contacts with many people, to get accurate full-proof scientific results.

Speaking at the first annual media briefing on Ebola and Cholera, on Wednesday, Dr Beifubah said health personnel were always in contact with the many people who visited their various health facilities and could not be used for the test.

He said a vaccine that had been tested and approved by the Food and Drugs Board (FDA), could be trusted by the society.

The Health Director explained that the vaccine contained a portion of an attenuated disease-causing virus, which was injected into an uninfected person to produce natural antibodies to fight the disease.

He said he was unhappy with the current media sensationalism and public outrage characterising the Ebola trial vaccine to be carried out on some selected people at Hohoe in the Volta Region.

Dr Beifubah, therefore, urged the media to provide accurate information, saying the impact of any misinformation could be irreversible.

Dr Joseph Oduro, the Ashanti Regional Deputy Director Public Health, said the move, a collaboration between the Government and the World Health Organization (WHO), would not only help Ghana but the whole world towards seeking a suitable cure for the deadly disease.

He said the Region was scaling up efforts at containing the disease and some of the measures being undertaken included the training of teams for all the districts to set up a taskforce in all the Districts, which would be supplied with Personal protective Equipment (PPEs) to combat the disease in case of an outbreak.

Dr Oduro said the Ebola disease in West Africa, which occurred in 2014, recorded a total of 27,388 cases with 15,113 confirmed and 11,193 deaths, representing a 40 per cent death rate.

He said the three most affected countries were Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, with Liberia recording the highest death toll of 4,806.

Dr Oduro said Nigeria also had 20 cases, with eight (8) deaths, while Mali had eight cases with six deaths.

He said the USA also had four (4) cases and one death, whiles Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain recorded one case each.

Dr Fred Adomako Boateng, the Deputy Director of Clinical Care, speaking on Cholera, reminded the public on the need to avoid eating cold foods and eating without washing hands with soap and water.

These practices, he said, promoted the spread and growth of the disease.