President John Mahama has called on colleague Presidents in the West African sub-region to as a matter of urgency, pull resources together to fight the Ebola virus.<\/p>\n
The deadly virus has claimed the lives of about 500 people in three West African countries; Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in less than six months.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the opening of the 45th<\/sup> ordinary session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Mahama said there is an urgent need for adequate resources \u201cto speed up the containment effort.\u201d<\/p>\n He challenged medical research institutions in the sub-region to find a cure or vaccines to the disease.<\/p>\n President Mahama, who is also the ECOWAS chairman, mentioned that West African countries and health practitioners and organizations \u201cmust scale up our efforts and power to defeat this deadly disease.\u201d<\/p>\n He called for extreme vigilance and caution while avoiding any panic or misinformation which could further endanger the lives of citizens.<\/p>\n President Mahama commended the World Health Organization (WHO), doctors without borders, other relevant international organizations and health practitioners within West Africa for \u201cthe efforts they have made to try to contain spread of the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n West African heads on state are meeting in Accra to deliberate on matters affecting the sub-region.<\/p>\n The outbreak of the Ebola virus\u00a0is expected to feature prominently on the agenda.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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