The Eastern Regional Minister, Antwi Boasiako Sekyere has orderd the installation of simple hand washing facilities in all government and sensitive public places with immediate effect.
The directive forms part of efforts to prevent the spread of deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) within the various Municipalities and Districts in the Region, should an outbreak occur.
The Minister was speaking at the Emergency Regional Epidemic Management Dissemination Committee (REMDC) meeting held at the Regional Coordinating Council in Koforidua.
The meeting discussed urgent steps of disseminating information to the public on the need to prevent the disease among other health related issues.
Mr Sekyere noted that an estimation of 1,200 cases of which more than 56 percent have died have been recorded since the out-break of the disease in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea and continued to record new cases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report.
He noted that the disease had not only raised public health concerns but also created social and economic challenges for the government of the countries where it had been reported adding that Ghanaians has so far been spared the outbreak.
Mr Sekyere further explained that government has responded to the Ebola threat by setting up a high powered Inter-Ministerial Task Force on the disease which has resulted in the establishment of a surveillance regime being put on high alert.
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Charity Sarpong in a presentation noted that so far the region has sent message alerts to districts and health facilities on clinical surveillance including the fact sheets on Ebola as well as surveillance and infection control recommendations.
Municipal and District assemblies were charged to mobilize traditional authorities to support education on Ebola and its consequences during an outbreak and also support the mobilization of volunteers needed for the various activities to combat it.
Dr. Charity Sarpong indicated that there was an outbreak of cholera in the region with six district already infected. She therefore called on the public to practice simple hygienic measures to avoid worsening the situation on the cholera outbreak.
On the issue of rabies outbreak in the region, she suggested that the Municipal and District Assemblies should support the local Veterinary Services to vaccinate all dogs in the Municipalities and districts and also called on the Environmental Health Officers to confine all stray dogs and eliminate them.
Source: allAfrica.com