Sulemana Imoro and a colleague
Officials at the Kulungungu Port Health Post in the Pusiga District in the Upper East Region are worried over a possible entry of Ebola cases into Ghana due to their inability to screen all travellers who cross into the country through the Kulungungu border.
In the wake of Ebola alert in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the officials at the Kulungungu Port Health believe that someone carrying the causative agent may transfer it to another in any of Ghana’s neighbouring countries and then carry into Ghana at their blind side.
The health post at Kulungungu is expected to screen all travellers moving to and from countries such as Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali and Niger to ensure that no one enters Ghana or leaves Ghana with any communicable disease.
Unfortunately, inadequate staff logistics are hampering the effective work of the officials.
The officer in-charge of the Kulungungu Port Health, Sulemana Imoro, told journalists that the health post has only two workers and as a result, they are not able run day and night shifts as expected.
He added, “Apart from inadequate staffing, we don’t have the required equipment and other apparatus to do an effective screening of all passengers crossing into Ghana or leaving. We do only day shift; in the night we close, unless it’s an emergency then they will call me to come and assess the situation. This means, there is free passage for travellers at night.”
Asked whether the post will be able to quarantine a passenger that is found to be carrying a communicable disease, Mr Imoro answered in a worrying tone that “we don’t even have an office accommodation, how can we have a place to quarantine?”
The facility is operating a colonial metallic cone structure and this becomes so hot in the afternoon and makes it almost impossible for the health workers there to screen anyone inside the virtually empty single room structure.
FROM Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Kulungungu