President John Mahama has appealed to all partners to increase their financial support for the three most affected countries in the Ebola epidemic. Addressing a High Level Coordination Meeting of ECOWAS and its partners on the Ebola Virus in Accra, President Mahama emphasized the need for a more coordinated effort to battle the Ebola Virus Disease which has claimed over 80,000 lives so far.

President Mahama acknowledged that even though international response has been very positive and the reported case incidence continues to fluctuate in Guinea, “there is no identifiable downwards trend yet and the outbreak continues to spread geographically within the country”.

The case incidence, he said, has declined to “significantly low levels” in Liberia and there are signs of incidences levelling off in Sierra Leone although transmission remains intense in that country

“Ebola continues to pose a major threat to public health and security of the people in our sub-region and the world at large.

“I therefore wish to entreat all nations and all institutions to provide maximum support to the affected countries and ensure that the epidemic is brought under control as quickly as possible. This is the surest way our sub-region and the entire world would be assured of safety and security from the menace of Ebola.”

President John Dramani Mahama is the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

The meeting being held today, January 16 will be taking stock of the various partner and stakeholder initiatives within the context of an integrated regional response to the Ebola epidemic.

The Ebola meeting will among others discuss the effective coordination of the Ebola Response Initiatives and provide a platform for the sharing of information on the situation in affected member states.