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The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) has appealed to President John Mahama not to allow the country to host the African Cup of Nations tournament from January to February 2015 due to the outbreak of the Ebola disease. The Society stressed that hosting the competition in the country would open the floodgates for Ebola virus carriers to come in their numbers and later infect Ghanaians with the virus. This was contained in a statement signed by Mr James Ohemeng Kyei, President of PSGH. below is the statement from the PSGH Press Statement By The Pharmaceutical Society Of Ghana (Psgh) On The Possibility Of Hosting The 2015 African Cup Of Nations (Afcon) Tournament By Ghana The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) wishes to make a passionate appeal to His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama not to allow Ghana to host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition from January to February 2015, due to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD) in some sister African countries; and which is likely to impact negatively on the health of Ghanaians. Last Friday, October 17, 2014, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, Minister of Youth and Sports did announce that Ghana is ready to host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition scheduled to come off from January to February 2015. This reportedly follows a request by Morocco originally scheduled to host the event to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the tournament because of security and health concerns; with particular reference to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa notably in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana opines that Morocco�s request for postponement is timely, appropriate and in the best interest of CAF member countries in view of the gloomy prediction on Ebola by the US Center for Disease Control (CDC). The Center reports that more than 8,000 people have contracted the disease worldwide resulting in nearly 4000 deaths. The agency has also predicted as many as 550,000 to 1.4 million Ebola infections by January 2015. Therefore hosting the tournament in Ghana is tantamount to opening the floodgates for Ebola virus carriers to come in their numbers and later infect the good people of Ghana with the virus. This is because the 2-21 days incubation period of the Ebola virus will allow entry of those who have contracted the virus but do not show the signs and symptoms of Ebola virus disease (EVD) yet. After the incubation period, they will develop the EVD signs and symptoms in Ghana and start infecting Ghanaians. It may be recalled that Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the USA arrived in Dallas on September 20, from Liberia. He was however diagnosed with Ebola on September, 28, 2014 (i.e. eight days after leaving Liberia); and had been in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas where he died. The PSGH also wants Government to note that treatment of Ebola patients even in the First World with advanced health systems poses a big challenge now. For example there are no Ebola outbreaks in USA, Germany and Spain. But some few Ebola patients who were admitted to their hospitals died despite access to quality care including in some cases availability and use of brincidofovir, an experimental antiviral medicine which recently gained emergency approval from the FDA. So if the developed countries do not find it easy to treat Ebola cases, then only God knows what will happen in Ghana should there be an outbreak; But GOD FORBID!! As health professionals, members of the PSGH most of whom are ardent football fans, are also worried about the infections and deaths of health providers from Ebola. According to the Director of the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Thomas Frieden, the outbreak has killed more than 200 health workers. In conclusion, the PSGH wishes to state emphatically that allowing AFCON to be hosted in Ghana in January 2015 will be a very big mistake for which posterity will never forgive us since the Ebola warning signs are very clear on the wall. Ghana must therefore support Morocco�s request for postponement so that Morocco will host it at the appropriate time. Ghanaian health workers must also be saved from this avoidable Ebola infections and deaths. Once again the PSGH passionately appeals to His Excellency the President not to allow the AFCON 2015 tournament to be hosted in Ghana because of the Ebola concerns. Pharm.James Ohemeng Kyei President 0244-825454