By. Damba Rogers
Civil society actors in Uganda are strongly questioning the huge silence exhibited by the African Union on the continued DRC Ebola crisis which has left 1000 lives lost.
Addressing a
news conference today in Kampala, a consortium of health NGOs in Uganda led by
the Africa bureau chief, AIDS Healthcare foundation Dr. Penninah Iutung are putting pressure the AU to show urgent
leadership towards responding to the escalating ebola crisis.
Penninah
further urges the global health organization to declare the outbreak a public
health emergency for international concern as well as approve the ebola vaccine
to enable a wider distribution to all who need it.
She further
asks the DRC government and other partners to engage the community by
increasing awareness about the reality of the current Ebola epidemic and its
containment measures. “ There must be a connection with the
community as well as building mutual trust so as to enable the acceptance of
infection prevention and control practices such as safe burials and
decontamination activities.”
However, the
executive director Coalition for health promotion and social development
(HEPS-Uganda) Denis Kibira and Derrick Aaron Nsibirwa the program
associate CEHURD note that a number of ebola vaccines BY GSK, Johnson and
Johnson among others are waiting approval from WHO since 2014 which is adding
to the burden of inaccessibility and continued high cost of the only available
vaccine.
The two
further insist, this has continued to violate victim’s rights to free and easy
access to medicines.
But the
president, Uganda medical association, Dr.
Ekwaro Obuku is demanding for heightened screening of victims at all border
posts as well as availing border health facilities with the required medical
equipment to handle cases as they arise.
The ebola
crisis ravaging eastern DRC is the 2nd deadliest in history
following the 2014-16 crisis in west
Africa with the 10 month crisis now
claiming over 1200 lives with 200 of them occurring in May alone.
Historically,
DRC has been vulnerable to Ebola outbreaks, recording over 10 of them in 40
years. The current wave is the worst documented in the country and has the
potential to be very catastrophic, since the current health response is being
hampered by heightened insecurity situation thus making the whole region and
global community vulnerable to the spread of the dangerous epidemic.
The health
activists now want the AU and WHO to come out fast to arrest the
situation to save more lives.
Ebola is
spread by coming into body close contact with a patient, sharing items with
victim and always presents with fever, vomiting, passing out of water in all
body outlets, body pain, weakness among others and can be prevented by
maintaining proper hygiene, not coming into contact with a person carrying the
disease or even the body and many more.
END