Health workers at Ghana’s Infectious Disease Centre will begin simulation exercises next week to test the country’s readiness to detect, isolate and manage any suspected Ebola cases, officials say.
The drills will assess case detection, isolation procedures, treatment protocols and coordination among frontline staff. The centre’s Medical Director, Dr Oliver Commey, said the exercises would continue until the response is refined, drawing on the facility’s COVID-19 experience, while isolation wards, laboratory systems and screening mechanisms are strengthened.
Dr Commey said some staff remain anxious about the risks of managing Ebola, which they regard as more dangerous and complex than COVID-19, but that management is engaging and motivating them while ensuring adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety protocols.
The preparedness drive follows the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a public health emergency of international concern. Authorities stress that no case has been recorded in Ghana or the wider West African region.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has toured response facilities, including the Accra International Airport Port Health Unit, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Infectious Disease Centre, and directed stronger measures such as handwashing stations at mass gatherings. “There is no cause for panic, but we must all play our part,” he said, adding that the risk in Ghana remains low.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, with symptoms including fever, weakness, vomiting and, in severe cases, bleeding.
