Health officers at the Aflao boarder are warning that Immigration officers are at risk of contracting the Ebola virus.<\/p>\n
The assistant chief health officer at the Aflao border, John Marfo said travelers who come to Ghana through the border are first handled by Immigration officers who are not fully protected.<\/p>\n
He said under normal circumstances, the health officials should be the first point of contact with any traveler coming into the country but the Immigration officials have taken over their duties.<\/p>\n
According to Mr. Marfo, the health officials are to ensure international health security for Ghana but because travelers are first checked by Immigration officials, their safety is at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Immigration Officials are at risk because coming into contact with any traveler with any form of disease is a challenge,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
He expressed the hope that after the decongestion of the Aflao border is completed, the offices of the health officials will be placed before that of the Immigration office.<\/p>\n
This, he said will \u201censure that any health risk coming into the country will be checked at our border before any agency comes into contact with the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a related development, The Command and Staff College of the Ghana Armed Forces risks losing over $300,000 if their international students do not show up in September due to the Ebola scare.<\/p>\n
According to the Commandant of the Ghana Armed Force, Air Vice Marshall Issifu Zakib Kadir, their fear is heightened because a third of their student population are from neighboring countries within the sub-region.<\/p>\n
He warned that if they postpone the re-opening date of the school, the college would be forced to demand more funds from government to ensure smooth running.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact of getting both West Africans and East and South Africans not coming is going to be really drastic on the resources of the school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the authorities of the school use the internally generated funds to run the affairs of the school because money from the central government is not enough to support the operations of the school.<\/p>\n
Air Vice Marshall Kadir disclosed that the school has earmarked certain blocks which will be allocated to foreign students to prevent a spread of the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore any foreign student will be allowed in, we would have the military hospital screen the person and assure us if the person is Ebola-free before he will be received into the campus,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Ebola disease has claimed about 1,000 lives in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.<\/p>\n
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By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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