Somalia Prime Minister has said that the government has stepped up its preparedness to counter any emerging challenge leading to any possible outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.
Speaking to journalists after jetting back to Mogadishu from a trip to Burundi, Mr Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed said that his government will closely monitor the health status of the military personnel deployed from the worst-hit countries.
‘’We will make sure all troops being deployed to our country should have went through tests,’’ said the Prime Minister.
A committee has been formed composed of the African Union office in Somalia and the Somali government ministries of Health, Security and Air & Transport to work closely on combating the deadly virus.
It was the first time the Prime Minister made comment about Ebola as a number of the Somali population raised concerns about the Ebola epidemic.
Ravaged by civil war for more than two decades, it is unsurprising that Somalia has one of the worst health-worker shortages in Africa. A poor road network and limited number of health facilities compounds the lack of access to healthcare.
Last week, a battalion of 800 Sierra Leone Peacekeepers waiting to be deployed to Somalia were quarantined after one of the soldiers tested Ebola Positive.
The highly infectious deadly disease has claimed more than 4,500 lives in West Africa so far, and countries like Somalia worries that cross-border travel may bring the disease there too.
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