Koforidua, Aug. 2, GNA - Dr Kwasi Akyem Apea-Kubi, the Eastern Regional Minister, has urged Municipal and District Assemblies to adopt measures that would help them to contain any outbreak of influenza.

He told the assemblies to empower the Information Services Department (ISD) with logistics to visit towns and villages to create awareness of the disease and to use film shows and music as means of creating awareness.

Dr Apea-Kubi was speaking at the Regional awareness durbar on Influenza pandemic preparedness and the launch of Information Education Communication (IEC) materials in Koforidua on Monday.

The durbar was aimed at equipping participants with important knowledge on Influenza pandemic preparedness.

It was organized by the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the German International Co-operation with support from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Regional Coordinating Council.

He observed that the durbar was a concrete manifestation of the “Better Ghana Agenda” that government was prosecuting, adding “Government will not sit down unconcerned for any health calamity to befall this nation.”

Dr Apea-Kubi recalled that in 2009 and 2010, the world witnessed the outbreak of a new Influenza virus (Influenza A, H1N1), which led to the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

He said in Ghana 1,200 persons were affected with one casualty and since then the disease spread to all the ten regions, adding that the Eastern Region reported the first case in March, 2010.

Dr Apea-Kubi thanked the GIZ and NADMO for organizing the durbar and called on stakeholders, especially parents to be on the lookout for the symptoms for early actions to be taken.

Mr Ransford Owusu Boakye, Eastern Regional NADMO Coordinator, called on participants to join the national crusade to raise awareness and prepare to mitigate the consequences of the influenza outbreak and also share whatever knowledge they gained with their families, friends and colleagues.