Parliament calls for suspension of Ebola vaccine trials

Parliament on Wednesday called for the immediate suspension of the Ebola vaccine trial in Hohoe in the Volta Region until further consultations are done.
The Speaker, Mr Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho, directed with the unanimous consent of the House, that the process should be stopped until further notice.
“That is the opinion of the House,” the Speaker emphasized, after contributions from both sides had condemned the lack of enough consultation before the process began.
The Speaker further directed that the Minister of Health brief the House on the Ebola vaccine trial.
The brief would be through a response to an Urgent Question or a Statement.
Members’ contributions, which came after Emmanuel Bedzrah, MP for Ho West had made a statement on behalf of the Volta Caucus lashed out at the lack of consultation before the process began.
Mr Bedzrah said: “Mr Speaker, MPs from the Volta Region have been inundated with phone calls from panic-stricken constituents who believe that this trial is aimed at spreading the dreaded Ebola disease into the Volta Region.
“Mr Speaker, one cannot blame these constituents because there was no proper sensitization and community engagement before the investigators started recruiting persons to be used for the trials. Indeed Rt Hon Speaker, we are reliably informed that students of the Hohoe Midwifery School, were made to fill out forms and promised GHc200 and a mobile phone each if they were to volunteer in the exercise.”
Mr Bedzrah stated further: “Monitoring the mood of the Region in respect of this matter, we wish to call for an immediate suspension of this exercise.”
The Speaker informed the House that he himself had received calls from a number of concerned individuals, including some senior individuals, on the issue.
Kobina Tahir Hammond, MP for Adansi Asokwa and Gershon Gbediame, MP for Nkwanta South, questioned why Ghana had been selected for the trials.