Some foreign nationals from Guinea and Sierra Leone who attempted to enter Ghana through the Paga border were turned away for failing to produce certificates indicating prior screening for the Ebola disease.
The head of the Paga Port Health Unit, Francis Nyamekye, speaking on Eye Witness News said the travelers were denied entry due to a directive from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He added that it was also a measure aimed at preventing infected persons from sneaking into the country since the border post did not have the screening equipment to verify the traveler were free from the Ebola virus.
Mr. Nyamekye said: “When the ECOWAS Heads of States met, they announced that you can screen in your country and come to Ghana with certificate of Ebola. Some of them couldn’t abide with that and when they come in, they have problem with us.”
According to him, Port Health officials were initially afraid of contracting the disease from travelers visiting Ghana from Ebola-affected countries because they did not have the requisite equipment for screening.
“We don’t have the machines and the only alternative was to screen them physically and make them enter the country. Those who have the certificate have no problem but those who were not having the certificate, we made them go back,” Mr. Nyamekye explained.
He however disclosed that the government has promised to provide them with Ebola screening machines in the shortest possible time.
“When the Minister visited us today [Wednesday], he promised that by next week we may receive our equipment,” he said.
Although Ghana has not recorded any case of Ebola, government is putting measures in place to handle a possible outbreak.
An amount of GHC 100,000 has been released to each regional hospital to set up or refurbish Ebola isolated centres.
The outbreak of the Ebola disease began in Guinea in March 2014 and later spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Congo.
As of August 26, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that a total of 3,069 suspected cases and 1,552 deaths have so far been recorded.
But WHO is convinced the actual number could already be two to four times higher and is also predicating that about 20,000 cases could be recorded in the next six months.
By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana