The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has formed a 24-member Ebola Committee as part of measures to ensure the preparedness of the metropolis to prevent or contain an outbreak of the disease.

Members of the Committee represent the various stakeholders from the public and private health institutions, education sector, traditional council, religious organisations, National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), and many others.

During its inauguration on Monday, Dr John Yabani, Tema Metropolitan Health Director, and chairman of the Committee, said as part of its mandate, members had to ensure that Tema Metropolis was well mobilised, educated on health issues as well as communicate risks to the residents.

Dr Yabani added that the Committee would also ensure surveillance as well as put in measures to ensure that anybody using the various entry points in the Metropolis went through the necessary screening.

It is also mandated to ensure a rapid response which is to work 24 hours a day in case of any reported case in the Metropolis, in addition to putting in place case management protocols.

The Committee would put in a place membership for the burial team, case management team and rapid response team.

The members of the Committee are also to guarantee that staff of various health facilities in the Metropolis were properly prepared to receive any suspected Ebola case.

Dr Yabani gave the assurance that members would undergo a day’s training with facilitators from the Tema General Hospital for the task ahead.

The Tema Metropolitan Health Director said the Ebola virus had harmed the affected countries with over 8,000 people losing their lives and over 20,000 being infected.

He said due to the strategic location of Tema, it was only good that a committee was put in place to look at the situation and how best to prevent it from entering the metropolis.

He said even though the Tema Port was well maintained, other entry points still needed attention as currently people could easily move in and out without any proper monitoring.

Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the committee was to augment the efforts of the Health Directorate in educating and creating the needed awareness.

Mr Odamtten added that there was the need to formalise the contributions from stakeholders and create responsibility for them in order to achieve more in the health sector.

He urged the 24 members to be proactive and prompt enough not to wait for things to happen but rather strategise and plan well to help achieve the assembly’s targets and that of the nation.

He charged them to take the activities of the committee seriously and attend all meetings in addition to being ambassadors in their organisations and localities.

Mr Odamtten said a social media platform would be created to aid information sharing among committee members to make them more proactive and spontaneous.