Mahama hails Ebola response as UN mission closes

President John Mahama says the downsizing of the UN Ebola emergency mission in Accra was a sign of success of “short and sharp interventions”.

Peter Graaff, head of the Unmeer mission, met the president to thank the country for hosting the agency since it was set up in September last year.
Most of the mission’s staff and assets have been moved to Sierra Leone and Guinea, where 24 new cases of Ebola were reported in the last week. A small team will stay until the end of June to co-ordinate air operations.
Ghana has not been affected by the epidemic in West Africa, which has killed more than 11,000 people.

Epicentre
The mission set up its headquarters in Accra as it was far enough away from the affected countries, where there was logistical lockdown, but close enough to the epicentre of the outbreak.
“By allowing us to set up our headquarter in Accra, President [John ] Mahama demonstrated extraordinary leadership and solidarity,” Mr Graaff said in a statement.
“He made Ghana the only open gateway to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone thus allowing the movement of thousands of Ebola responders and medical and essential supplies when they were most needed.”
As a result, Unmeer said Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone now had the necessary response capabilities in place to efficiently test, treat and isolate Ebola patients.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Liberia free of Ebola as the country had had no new cases in 42 days.