By Septimus Senessie in Kono
A nongovernment organisation, ActionAid International, has donated protective gears, assorted food items and a cheque of Le 4.5 million to the Kono district Ebola taskforce at the UN Conference Hall in Koidu, Kono district.
The consignment included bags of rice, sugar, onions, salt maggi and cans of sardine while the protective gears contained gum boot, overall, disinfectants and soap.
While handing over the gift, the district manager of the organisation, Mohamed Fofana, told members of the taskforce that the foodstuff was meant to support families in quarantined homes while the money was for fuel support to enhance proper coordination in the fight against Ebola and contact tracing in the district. He said similar donationswere being made across the country.
The manager said his organisation was quite aware of the “inadequate availability of protective gears for health workers at the Koidu Hospital which to us was a serious problem that exposes the lives of health workers and their families to the deadly Ebola Virus.”
He therefore advised that to use the gears to prevent them and their families from contacting the disease and to give the foodstuff to the rightful beneficiaries in quarantined homes.
Mayor of the Koidu Town Council and co-chair of the Ebola taskforce in district,Saa Emerson Lamina, praised the organisation for their timely interventions in the fight against Ebola in the country. He said ActionAid was the first international nongovernmental organisation that raised public awareness on the outbreak of the disease in the district.He therefore promised that his office would spearhead the proper utilisation of the donated items against Ebola in the district.
District medical superintendent, Dr. Ronald Carshon-Marsh described the donation as “fuel to drive off Ebola out of the district,” adding that the protective gears and food were the real ammunition in the fight against Ebola.
(C) Politico 09/10/14
