Parliament has asked for the immediate suspension of the ongoing Ebola Vaccine trial phase 1 project in the Volta Region until further notice.
The House has accordingly, extended an invitation to the Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia, to come and brief members on the clinical trial being conducted by the School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences in the Hohoe Municipality.
The stance of the House was necessitated by an SOS call made by the MP for Ho West, Emmanuel Bedzrah, on behalf of the Volta Caucus on the floor of the legislator on Wesdnesday.
“Mr. Speaker, we are not against our Research Institutions undertaking research and medical trials but we cannot accept the situation where the proposed trial is carried out without proper communication and interaction with major stakeholders in the region”.
“Mr. Speaker, monitoring the mood of the Region in respect of this matter, we wish to call for an immediate suspension of this exercise”, Mr. Bedzrah noted in a statement delivered on the floor of the House.
He told the House that as representatives of the people, they owe it a duty to their constituents to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
I think parliament and government for that matter took a knee jerk reaction to the issue without first doing an intelligent and scientifically informed assessment of the risks if any and weigh those visavis the potential benefits it any to not only Ghana but the world at large. Vaccine trials must definitely be done to see their effectiveness for large scale use. Point is those trials need to be done, I am sure they didn’t just come to Ghana but as required would try it elsewhere as well. Again consent to partake in a trial is strictly voluntary and a personal decision at that, hence I see no point in the brouhaha.