Ebola Hub Poses No Risk to Ghana- UN Team

Anthony Banbury speaking at the press conference
Anthony Banbury, United Nation (UN) Secretary General's Special Representative and Head of Mission of the Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), has assured Ghanaians that the establishment of the headquarters of the UN Mission on Ebola will pose no risk to the country.

On the contrary, he said if the world fails to act in a robust way by establishing the UNMEER to be headquartered in Ghana to stop Ebola from further spreading, 'then it poses a risk to the people of Ghana and the world. That's where the risk would occur.'

Mr Banbury asserted that the priority of his mission is first to keep its staff healthy through the adoption of stringent protocol measures set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

'WHO as part of its mission is putting in place very stringent protocols for the staff of UNMEER of how we act, how we travel and the precautions we take. Standards will be higher than current WHO standards,' he assured.

Mr Banbury was addressing the press a day after the UNMEER advance team of 15 experts arrived in Ghana to kick start work on policy and logistical response to the Ebola crisis.

UNMEER Activities
The UNMEER has been mandated by the United Nations to stop Ebola and prevent it from further spreading to other countries in the West African sub-region.

According to the mission head, UNMEER would have no operational activities in Ghana but rather work from its headquarters in Ghana to enhance the capabilities in the logistics areas of the countries concerned.

'We will be delivering vehicles and helicopters, motor cycles and building Ebola treatment units and working with the national government in the affected countries to meet their needs and where ever there are gaps, we will work with partners to make sure someone is filling those gaps so we can stop the spread of Ebola as quickly as possible.

Once that is accomplished, the mission would close up and the sooner that happens, the better,' Mr Banbury said.

Although the UNMEER mission head did not give any time line for the accomplishment of its goals, he stated that the mission has a timeline of 30, 60 and 90 days based on experts' say.

Experts from the WHO  had stated that for the virus to be contained and stopped from further spreading, 70 percent of affected people should be under treatment and 70 percent of deaths resulting from Ebola also being buried in the safest way.

'This is an ambitious target we want to achieve but we will work with the capacity we have,' he said.

Personnel
The UNMEER is expecting 250 staff out of which 100 would be stationed at the headquarters in Accra while the other 150 would work in the affected countries.

The headquarters would be the central point for the distribution of logistics and would, therefore, host experts from the UN mission who would facilitate the distribution of logistics to concerned countries.

The mission would also work with the UN system in the country and other agencies like aid institutions, community leaders and religious groups.

'UNMEER headquarters in Accra will have senior officials and operational members to find ways to best support the aim of UNMEER in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone,' he noted.

Ghana's Role
Mr Banbury applauded the support by the global community, particularly highlighting the role played by President Mahama in the fight against Ebola.

He said the establishment of the mission in Ghana reflects the strengths of the country and its institutions.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri