GACL sets up team to handle communicable diseases at airport
The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has inaugurated a seven-member Exercise Writing Team, to develop and simulate a full-scale Pandemic Emergency Exercise.
The exercise would take place at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in line with national and international aviation regulations.
Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of the GACL who inaugurated the team said it would fall under the GACL Airport Emergency Plan, which provides the frame work for managing emergencies.
This, she said, is in line with the provisions of both the Ghana Civil Aviation Regulations (GCAR) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which enjoined member states to take effective measures to prevent the spread of cholera, typhus, small pox, yellow fever, plague, and such other communicable diseases.
A statement to the Ghana News Agency on Monday said through the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA), organisations were brought together to combine efforts and develop a coordinated approach between Civil Aviation Authorities, Public Health Authorities (PHE), Airports, Airlines and Air Traffic Services.
CAPSCA encourages states and the aviation sector to undertake full scale PHE exercises in compliance with Article 14 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation; ICAO SARPs (Annexes 6, 9, 11 and 14) and Procedure ; WHO International Health Regulations (2005), Airports Council International guidelines and International Air Transport Association (IATA) guidelines.
In fulfilment of these objectives and in line with the GACL Emergency Management programme for 2013, an aviation-related PHE exercise has been scheduled for November.
In order to effectively manage this programme, the Exercise Writing team’s mandate includes: evaluating the activation, equipment and operation of the Emergency Operation Centre at KIA and evaluating information dissemination and decision making along the Pandemic emergency management chain of command at the Airport.
Others are evaluating airline procedures for pandemic emergencies, evaluating the response of primary and support agencies and evaluating procedures for dealing with the media during pandemics.
Members of the Team are Colonel (Dr) N. A. Obodai – Ghana Armed Forces (Chairman), Dr Edith Clarke- Ghana Health Service, Viki Vaughan Williams – Airline Operators Committee, Mrs Joyce Dawutey Akuffo- Aviation Security, GACL, Mr Patrick Asamoah- Finance, GACL, Divisional Officer II Felix Nartey – Rescue and Fire-Fighting Service, GACL, and Mr Steven Osom- Terminal Operations-GACL.
Source: GNA