A collaborative effort between the ministry of education and health has led through a presentation of Ebola protective gears and accoutrements to the University of Professional Studies (UPS) in Accra, Legon. The government of Ghana has presented over a 1,000 protective gear to frontline health workers at all tertiary institutions in the fight against a possible Ebola outbreak in the country.
The presentation was made at the University of Professional Studies (UPS) by the Health Minister Dr. Agyemang- Mensah and Education Minister Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang to Heads of tertiary institution under the supervision of the Ghana Education Service. The protective gear included hand gloves, screening gun, facial masks and personal protective attire. Senegal is the latest country in West Africa to report a fresh case.
Already some 2,288 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO said half of these deaths occurred in the three weeks running up to September 6.
Chancellor of UPS, Professor Joshua Alabi was grateful for the gesture as they believes is a life saving one. He appreciated the rapid efforts of government through the two ministries by endowing the university ability to place in check and look-out of any signs of the ebola disease in the university.
For similar surveillance purposes the University of Ghana (UG) has mandated student to fill an e-risk assessment form befor allowing entry into its halls of residence. The online form is meant to collect data on the Ebola epidemic on students and staff. According to UG figures, from the 2012/ 2013 academic year, the university had 953 foreign students with 543 coming from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region while the others were from the Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania and other parts of Africa.
Most universities were to reopen in August, but a directive from the government to suspend the reopening temporarily froze the academic calendar. The directive, which also applied to all private tertiary institutions, was to allow for the necessary screening and preparedness measures to be instituted to ensure that tertiary institutions were adequately placed in readiness for any outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country.
Most of the universities in Accra including the UG, Ghana Institute of Journalism and the Regent University College are putting measures in place to prevent the outbreak of the disease on the campuses and in the country at large.
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