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Tafadzwa Ndlovu and Ruth Chipayi
THE Zimbabwe health care system is better placed to cope with a potential Ebola outbreak given the existence of health care infrastructure, a United States public health expert has said.
The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Zimbabwe country director, Dr Peter Kilmarx yesterday told journalists in Harare that Zimbabwe was prepared to deal with Ebola if it emerged than some countries in West Africa.
Dr Kilmarx was in Sierra Leone for the past month leading a CDC team on the Ebola response and work with the Sierra Leone government and other partners to try and contain the Ebola epidemic.
“We complement efforts in response to Ebola in Zimbabwe because at the baseline there is much better health systems already in place in terms of the Ministry of Health and Child Care mandate,” he said.
“The health information systems, the laboratory quality as well as the communication and transportation systems have improved. Even the capacity of work Zimbabweans did when they handled the Ebola scare at Wilkins is commendable. I think Zimbabwe will be much better prepared for any new health threat, including Ebola than the case in West Africa.”
There was an Ebola scare in Harare recently after a Congolese student studying at the Harare Polytechnic College was admitted at Wilkins Hospital.
Initial tests proved that the student had malaria and the Government sent samples to South Africa for further tests.
The student was isolated for 21 days, but was released when she tested negative.
Dr Kilmarx commended Zimbabwe for the co-operation in the fight against Ebola by allowing people to travel to West Africa.
“The policy whereby people were able to travel to and from West Africa and serve there and be monitored upon their return is also commendable,” he said.
“It is very important that people were not blocked from travelling and Zimbabwe has come out as an example for many nations, including the Americans to follow.”
The Ministry of Health and Child Care received Ebola equipment, drugs and sundries from the National Healthcare Trust of Zimbabwe yesterday to strengthen the prevention and preparedness drive for Ebola.
Speaking during the donation, Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr Paul Chimedza said Zimbabwe had taken robust measures to counter any Ebola outbreak.
“We in Zimbabwe have not yet had any Ebola case, our risk of having a case is still very low,” he said. “But having low risk does not mean that we have no risk at all.
“It is precisely for the low risk that we are taking all the necessary precautions to avoid the introduction of any Ebola virus in the country.”
The US ironically imposed and maintains a ruinous economic sanctions regime on Zimbabwe that curtailed Government’s capacity to fund the social services sector.
Online Reporter