Concerns are rife among medical practitioners over government’s ill-preparedness to tackle Ebola in case the deadly disease is reported in the country as the neighbouring Ebola-ravaged Uganda extended a three-week lockdown on two districts marked as epicenter of the epidemic.
So far, since September this year when the first case was reported in Uganda, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) over 150 confirmed and probable cases have been registered including 64 fatalities.
According to Ministry of Health (MoH) officials who spoke to The Informer on condition of anonymity, they raised concerns of inadequate screening level and lack of adequate facilitation of surveillance team at the porous Kenya-Uganda Malaba border.
“We are concerned about the low screening levels and monitoring along this border. We hope that Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha Wafula urgently intervenes and address this issue.” A senior official from MoH disclosed.
Yesterday, the CS was not reachable for comment.
Last month, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) decried over what they termed as lack of preparedness to deal with Ebola should it strike in the counties that borders the neighboring Uganda.
The union’s National Chairman Peterson Wachira after his team toured a number of counties in the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB), they noted glaring gaps and concerns from the public and health workers.
He claimed the government has failed in its mandate to offer education on the disease to the communities that are vulnerable.
“In these counties all the way from Migori, Kisumu, Kakamega, Busia to Bungoma, we have realised that we have not done basic preparation to deal with this disease which is next door.” He noted
Yesterday, Uganda’s Health Minister Ruth Jane Aceng said the lockdown of Mubende and Kassanda districts will be extended for another 21 days.
On October 15, Uganda president Yoweri Museveni imposed a 21-day lockdown on Mubende and neighbouring Kassanda districts but ruled out nationwide travel restrictions.
Uganda’s last recorded fatality from a previous Ebola outbreak was in 2019.
The worst Ebola epidemic in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 killed more than 11,300 people.
