By Richard Attenkah
The world’s leading manufacturer of high quality chocolate and cocoa products, Barry Callebaut, in collaboration with the Swiss Embassy and the Ministry of Health, has handed over an Ebola Medical Stores to the Tema General Hospital.
The project, which is estimated at a cost of GH¢80,000, forms part of plans to set up a trust fund to support health and education in cocoa growing areas across the globe. The Managing Director of Barry Callebaut, Mr. John Andre, in his remarks, hinted that, it was not their first time in giving to the Tema General Hospital, adding that in 2009, his outfit was the main contributor to the construction of the Lion Eye Care Clinic.
He stated that when the need was felt in 2014 to support the Ebola project, the Health Ministry’s architect also gave advice in setting up the health facility, which includes two medical stores, an office and a washroom to accommodate specific equipment, and also staff of the center. Mr. Andre further noted that they were impressed by Ghana’s quickness in preparing against an Ebola outbreak, thus 42 medical volunteers were sent to both Sierra Leone and Liberia by Barry Callebaut.
He lauded the Ghana Cocoa Board for playing a vital role in their production, saying it would not have been possible without the commitment and support of Cocobod, which promoted the local processing and export of the raw beans. Barry Callebaut was the very first company to start operations in Ghana in 2001 in the Tema Free Zones enclave, and has a processing facility with a capacity of 65,000 metric tonnes of beans in Tema.
The company is made of up 52 factories, and employs 9,319 workers and processes 940,000 metric tonnes of beans Tema in a year. The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Victor Bampoe, in his speech, revealed that as at now, about 138 suspected Ebola cases have been reported, but tests at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research have all turned out negative, saying, “We have no confirmed case of Ebola in Ghana.”
He stressed that his ministry had set up a National Technical Coordinating Committee (NTCC) that advises and assists with the Ebola preparedness and response plan. “An Incident Management System (IMS) has been established to identify, isolate and manage any case of Ebola that is detected in the country,” he noted.
He was optimistic that “Although we are fairly well prepared, we are still taking on board experiences from other countries, and we are constantly reviewing and updating our strategies.” He assured the general public that their surveillance system is working around the clock, continually making it difficult for any case, whether suspected or otherwise, to slip through.