Call made for disease control centre for early detection & response

Drugs were ordered from abroad to Kumasi Academy when there was an outbreak of swine flu[/caption] The Ghana Association of Public Health Technical Officers (GAPHTO) is calling for the establishment of a Centre for Disease Control for early detection and response to disease epidemic in the country. This comes in the wake of the outbreak of diseases in some senior high schools. The Director General of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Nsiah Asare, had earlier proposed the establishment of a Ghana health centre as a way of early detection of epidemic outbreak. In a statement issued on Friday, GAPHTO explains that the Centre when established with the necessary resources will place the country at the forefront of disease control in Africa. “For the medium to long term, GAPHTO welcomes and expresses its joy at the call by the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, for the establishment of a Ghana Centre for Disease Control for early detection and response to disease epidemics, or unusual health events in a timely manner. “The time for this institution to be established is now in view of the recurrent outbreaks plaguing the country. We have noted that the establishment of such a Centre with the necessary resources will place Ghana at the forefront of disease control and surveillance in the sub-region and even feed into the Africa CDC Regional Collaborating Center framework.” The Association is also calling on government and other players in the health sector to immediately assist in establishing the centre for health improvement. “The Association pledges its support and collaboration with the Government (through GHS and MOH) towards the establishment of the Ghana Centre for Disease Control. GAPHTO has the human resource who are already at the forefront of disease surveillance and control activities in Ghana.  Our call for the establishment of this Centre is hereby also extended to the President of the Republic of Ghana, Parliament of Ghana, the GHS Council, WHO, CDC USA and other well-wishing organizations and individuals to support the creation of the Ghana Centre for Disease Control.” The Association with its members comprising of disease control officers, health information officers and nutrition officers, has also pledged to collaborate in resolving various challenges in the health sector. “The Association pledges its support and collaboration with the Government (through GHS and MOH) towards the establishment of the Ghana Centre for Disease Control. GAPHTO has the human resource who are already at the forefront of disease surveillance and control activities in Ghana.” By Collins Essuman|3news.com|Ghana Follow @3Newsgh]]>