Public health officers have issued four demands to the Ministry of Health as concerns grow over Kenya’s preparedness to contain the country’s first reported Ebola case.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Speaking during a briefing on Wednesday, October 7, the officers called on the ministry to strengthen public health response in the counties, arguing that managing Ebola and other infectious disease threats requires the involvement of all health cadres, not doctors alone.

They also raised concerns over how the suspected Ebola patient travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Uganda before entering Kenya, saying the movement exposed gaps in the implementation of international health regulations at border points.

The officers questioned whether adequate screening and certification procedures were conducted before the patient travelled between the three countries, stressing that such screening should be carried out by public health officers.

📌 What You Need to Know

Additionally, they argued that public health systems had been weakened and warned that Kenya could face a situation similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also began with an imported case.

The demands come as the Ministry of Health intensifies contact tracing after confirming an Ebola case in the country, with 57 contacts already identified.

Authorities have already placed 10 people in quarantine facilities as of Wednesday morning.

Among the first demands is having the ministry engage public health officers across the country to work towards ending ongoing strikes and to be fully involved in the national response to Ebola.

Additionally, they want the government to come up with a whole-system approach in managing Ebola and other epidemics and pandemics with public health officers, laboratory professionals, clinicians, nutritionists and other health workers given defined roles in the response.

They also demanded the expansion of training on Ebola preparedness, arguing that although about 4,791 healthcare workers had been trained, the programme largely targets senior officials and executives who are necessarily not the first responders during the public health emergency.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke