GHANA: Pandemic Prevention and Control Efforts

[Sharpe]

http://www.accra-mail.com/mailnews.asp?id=17506
Media told to intensify education on bird flu

-GNA- | Posted: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Mr Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, has reassured the nation that poultry products in the country are free from the Avian Flu disease.

He has, therefore, reiterated the call on Ghanaians to discard the negative perception about local birds and eggs and patronize them to revive the poultry industry.

Mr Debrah also appealed to various electronic and print media organizations in the country to embark on an intensive and continuous education on the need for the citizenry to revive their interest in the eating of locally produced birds and eggs to renew the economic power of the poultry farmers in the country.

These were contained in a speech read on his behalf by Madam Hanna Nyamekye, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, at a sensitization forum organized by members of Odebikese Poultry Farmers Association at Winneba.

The function was attended by school children; students of the Winneba Community Health Nurses Training School; chiefs, assembly members and heads of decentralized departments, corporations, agencies and institutions.

He said the Avian flu scare has dealt a severe economic blow to the poultry industry in Ghana due to the wide publicity given to the disease by both foreign and local media organizations when the disease first broke out in certain parts of the world and later in some African countries, including some West African countries.

Mr Debrah said the enormous economic problems posed by the Avian Flu to the poultry industry calls for intensive education at all fronts of national endeavour to rekindle the interest of the citizenry and to disabuse their minds of the negative perception about local poultry products so that they would start eating locally produced birds and eggs without fear.

He, however, advised the public to always ensure that poultry products they patronize are cooked very well before consuming them.

Mr Debrah praised the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Assembly and the leaders of the Odebikese Poultry Farmers Association in Winneba for being the first district to organize avian flu district forum to educate the people on the disease.

Similar messages came from the Deputy Minister of Health and MP for Effutu, Mr Samuel Kofi Owusu-Agyei; Mr Attoh Arthur, Central Regional Minister.

Mr Owusu-Agyei recalled recent moves initiated by the Government to seize more than 2,000 birds, which were being smuggled from Burkina Faso to Ghana, and advised Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of the negative perception some people held on the bird flu menace.

The Deputy Minister commended teachers and school children, who attended the function, and charged them to spread the good message on the country’s position on the avian flu menace.

Mr Solomon. K. Abban-Quaye, District Chief Executive, appealed to churches, educational institutions and other organized groups in the District to join the national crusade geared towards reviving the poultry industry.

He announced that a committee had been set up to continue with the education on the disease and to counsel people on the symptoms of the disease and to report to the appropriate authorities if they detected any in their community or on their poultry farms.

[Niko]

Re: GHANA: Pandemic Prevention and Control Efforts

www.ghanaweb.com: General News of Wednesday, 10 October 2007

<center>No more compensation for poultry farmers ...</center>
... without bio-security measures

Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - Poultry farmers, who refuse to observe bio-security measures on their farms, would henceforth not be paid any compensation in case of an avian influenza outbreak, Mr Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, warned on Tuesday. He said although the Government paid compensation totalling about 1.4 billion cedis for 27,356 birds that were destroyed as part of the control measures and those that died during the last outbreak, it would no longer pay compensation on a wholesale basis again. "Compensation would only be paid to farmers, whose poultry are attacked although they observed all the bio-security measures," he said at the opening of a three-day regional simulation workshop for Anglophone West African countries for control of Avian Influenza (Bird Flu).

The workshop with participants from Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone is an experience sharing one with a comprehensive view of what it takes from human and financial resources to deal with an outbreak. It is being organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) with support form USAID.

Ghana's success story in dealing with this year's outbreak would be the main topic for discussion.

Mr Debrah said staff of the Veterinary Services Directorate had started training poultry farmers on the importance of bio-security on their farms and would continue until all poultry farmers were reached. "After the training, compensation will not be paid to farmers, who do not observe bio-security on their farms in case of any future outbreak," he said.

Mr Debrah said despite the lifting of the quarantine restrictions, the public was reminded that Avian Influenza was still present on the globe and in the West African Sub-Region.

"It is, therefore, very important for all poultry farmers to continue to ensure maximum bio-security on their farms so as to prevent the entry of the virus onto their farms." l The Minister reminded the public that the importation of live birds and all poultry products from infected countries was still banned. He called on the security agencies, especially those along the country's borders, to continue to be vigilant and ensure that live birds or poultry products did not enter the country.

Mr Debrah urged the Ghana Poultry Development Board to set standards for the industry so that it could contain any outbreak. He said it was heart warming that the FAO and USAID had recognised the professionalism of those involved in the control of the outbreak in Ghana and chose to hold the workshop in Ghana for a chance to share such experiences.

Mr Edouard K. Tapsoba, FAO Representative in Ghana, said a desktop simulation was a first step towards a good preparedness and it should be complemented by field exercises and by real time alert exercises. Vigilance, he said, was still a key point to prevent any outbreaks. Dr Mensah Agyen Frempong, Director, Veterinary Services, who chaired the function, said diseases were no respecter of boundaries hence the need for all to be alert at all time. He reminded the public to report any unusual deaths of birds to the nearest Agriculture Office or Veterinary office. A similar exercise has been held in Bamako, Mali, for Francophone countries.

<hr width="100%">Source: GNA

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=132127