Ebola Cash Risk Being Mismanaged

Stakeholders in Ghana�s health sector are concerned that donor support meant for the fight against the Ebola disease in the country could be misapplied due to the disjointed manner in which many of these funds are disbursed. This, according to them, could negatively affect national campaign strategy aimed at informing the general public about the disease. Mr Tony Goodman, Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health, told The Finder that although private sector support is critical for an effective campaign and national response in an event of an outbreak of the disease, most of the contributions of the private sector are disjointed. �The private sector is doing separate things and this might affect the effectiveness of national response efforts. Currently, everybody is doing their own thing,� he stated with concern. The Government of Ghana has so far disbursed a total of GH₵6,090,000 to the Ministry of Health to prepare a national response for the disease, the Ministry of Health has disclosed. This amount leaves a funding gab of between GH₵50-60 million needed in order to carry out an effective national response in an event of an outbreak of the disease, The Finder has been informed. This calls for private sector support; however, for these efforts to be effective, they need to be properly co-ordinated and the funds pooled for effective disbursement and campaign, Mr Goodman noted. He, however, acknowledged that most of the messages used for these �disjointed campaigns� are materials produced by the Ministry of Health; those that are not from the ministry would not be recognised by the Ministry of Health, he noted. Ebola disease continues to wreck havoc in three West African countries, claiming lives of infected persons; however, there are cases of recovery and effective containment where the disease is reported early. The Ebola epidemic, which emerged in Guinea in March 2014, has infected more than 13,000 people and killed almost 5,000 in the three worst-hit West African countries (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone), according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures. Ghana has no recorded case of the disease, giving authorities the opportunity to prepare a national response strategy to contain the disease in the event of an outbreak. The country currently has one completed isolation centre located at Tema, with two others to be set up in Kumasi (Ashanti Region) and Tamale in the Northern Region. Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Victor Bampoe says government�s response strategy is ready and is based on three instant management systems which would help quickly �investigate, isolate and eliminate� any reported case in the country. Dr Badu Sakordie, Head of Disease Surveillance at the Ghana Health Service, says although the ministry is doing all it can in its preparedness to effectively manage the disease in the event of an outbreak, those measures are precautionary and need individuals to take personal responsibilities in order not to contract and spread the disease.