Editors PickNational News

Health experts allay Ebola fears

Travellers being screened for Ebola at Kamuzu International Airport
Travellers being screened for Ebola at Kamuzu International Airport

As the Ebola scourge continues threatening lives across the globe, the country’s major health facilities including Kamuzu Central Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital are yet to be equipped to deal with any possible outbreak in the country.

However, health officials and independent experts have said the situation should not trigger alarm as the country’s health care system can still handle any Ebola confirmed case.

After tearing apart West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leon and Guinea, the deadliest recorded Ebola outbreak in history has spread outside the African continent, with the US, UK and Spain registering cases and deaths.

Up to 9 000 cases were expected to be recorded by yesterday, according to WHO estimates, with the death toll projected to surpass 4 500.

Treasury last week released K275 million to the Ministry of Health to increase the country’s preparedness—beefing up measures already deployed such as screening at airports and border entry points, deployment of rapid teams, purchase of equipment and training of health staff.

The ministry’s spokesperson Henry Chimbali said they have trained several medical officers as well as equipped the two main airports in the country to deal with the pandemic.

“The procedure is if the screening process detects symptoms of Ebola, the person would be quarantined at the airport for 21 days for inspection and if the person has Ebola, he would be taken to a treatment area—Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital [QECH] in Blantyre and Kamuzu Central Hospital [KCH] in Lilongwe,” said Chimbali.

However, the facilities are far from ready to host an Ebola patient as indicated by chief health planning officer, Trisha Araru, who on Wednesday noted that while the country has made several strides to beef up its preparedness, no central hospital has a facility to treat Ebola patients.

However, Arura, who was briefing a network of journalists on health reporting in Lilongwe, said the country’s state of preparedness for the disease is up-to-date, citing training of health workers, purchase of equipment in addition to plans to construct the special treatment centres at KCH and QECH.

“We are going to build the facilities; the State has released the money. A place has been found at KCH to establish a special facility for Ebola and QECH we are still looking for an appropriate place,” she said.

Chimbali, who on Friday said he needed more time to find out details about the state of preparedness for both hospitals, said out of the K275 million provided by government, K87 220 300 will cater for surveillance areas, K22 605 500 for laboratory facilities, K138 240 640 for case management, K27 756 000 for infection prevention and K19 594 000 for public education and communication.

“In an event of any confirmed case, more resources will be required and the Ministry of Health is already working on what resources may be required at that time,” he said.

Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) executive director Martha Kwataine called for patience on government’s efforts to prepare for the pandemic.

“I have personally attended several meetings with the WHO and the Ministry of Health [officials]. There are several efforts being done to get the country prepared. The fact that the facilities at KCH and QECH are not ready should not be a cause for worry.

“I think in a resource-constrained situation as ours, perhaps urgent attention is given to those currently sick, but I think the country will be ready in an event that a person is diagnosed with Ebola,” she said.

Related Articles

One Comment

Back to top button