COVID-19

Ebola Outbreak: Mahama rejected our allowance request for the front-line nurses and doctors – Former GMA Boss

Published

4 years ago

April 11, 2020

Mahama blatantly rejected our allowance request for the front-line nurses and doctors during the – Former GMA President reveals

The Former President of Ghana Medical Association, GMA, Dr. Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, has revealed former President, John Mahama rejected nurses and doctors call for additional allowances when Ebola virus epidemic hit Africa in 2014.

According to him, when Ebola was spreading through the Africa continent, his outfit petitioned the then President [John Mahama] to set up additional allowances for frontline workers who may be exposed to the deadly disease.

Dr. Kwabena Opoku-Adusei said he is happy the government has secured an insurance cover for all front line workers who will be attending to coronavirus related cases in the occurrence of an outbreak in the country.

He disclosed that the insurance cover will motivate the health staff to put in all their efforts to control the widespread of the novel disease.

“When Ebola came to Africa in 2014, the Ghana Medical Association wrote to the then President [John Mahama] to set up additional allowances for frontline workers who may be exposed to the disease but was rejected by the President,’’, Dr. Kwabena Opoku-Adusei told Kwaku Dawuro on ‘Pae Mu Ka’ on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7

“I’m very happy President Akufo-Addo is motivating all the health workers to fight the coronavirus epidemic which has affected most countries in the world,’’ he added.

“We must all adhere to the precautionary protocols from the Ghana Health Service to ensure we don’t record more coronavirus cases in Ghana.’’

President Nana Akufo-Addo Sunday announced that all frontline health workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic will be paid an additional 50 percent of their basic salary for March to June 2020.

Additionally, all health workers will be exempted from paying taxes on their personal emoluments for the next three months, effective April.

The President announced this, as part of a raft of incentives to cushion citizens against the social and economic impact of the disease, in a national broadcast to update citizens on the implementation of the enhanced measures against the spread of respiratory disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global health emergency over the virus.

The first coronavirus case was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019.