President John Dramani Mahama on
Thursday repeated his call on the international development
partners to write off the debts of the three most Ebola affected
countries in West Africa.
He said apart from inflicting numerous health hazards on
the countries; Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, their Gross
Domestic Product had also been reduced by 4.6 percent.
President Mahama made this call when a 10- member German
Delegation called on him at the Flagstaff House,Kanda.
The delegation made up of two Ministers of State; Mr
Hermann Groeche and Dr Gerd Muller and Technocrats, have been in
the country for a couple of days to work out against the
recurrence of Ebola and other diseases.
President Mahama said the countries needed debt
forgiveness to reinvigorate their economies since the countries
had also suffered from stigma and economic hardships.
He, however, commended Germany for her participation
in the international response in the fight against the deadly
Ebola virus disease in the three countries, adding that such
interventions had helped to reduce the incidence of the disease in
the three countries.
The President said but for a single Ebola case that hit
Liberia a couple of days ago, the West African country would have
been declared an Ebola-free country, while Sierra Leone was also
making inroads in the fight.
He said but for the collective intervention, the
Ebola Virus disease would have spread to many more countries in
the West African coastline, and called on Germany and other
developed countries to draw a strategy that would avert the
recurrence of the disease.
President Mahama also called for support in terms
of massive public health systems to fight against the disease and
other unsuspecting ones.
Dr Gerd Muller, German Federal Minister for Co-
operation, expressed the desire to support developing countries
to achieve their health and economic development goals.
GNA
