adminLivinng Life Paidamoyo Chipunza
While a lot still needs to be improved on quality of preventive services for Ebola Virus Disease currently offered in Zimbabwe, after travelling out of the country a few days ago I am tempted to join the queue of those who have already given the country a pat on the back for Ebola preparedness.
I had the privilege of travelling up North recently and have no doubt that with current response efforts by some of our colleagues the disease in not spreading to other countries only by the Grace of God and not necessarily that they have systems in place.
Imagine, I travelled from Harare to Spain through Jomo Kenyatta and Paris International Airport as transit points without anyone bothering me with my travel history or history of contact with someone with Ebola.
Worse still I had caught a cold in Paris where the weather was really not favourable for some of us coming from a summer environment, but no one was bothered by that.
One would argue that there was no alarm because I was travelling from an Ebola free country hence there was no need for any screening.
But my country, Zimbabwe is not taking any chances.
On my way back, since I was coming from Spain where a nurse aide had contracted Ebola after treating a Spanish missionary, who had contracted the virus while working in West Africa, I thought I was going to be screened everywhere but that only happened in my home country Zimbabwe.
It seems as though the responsible people know they do not have resources to respond to an outbreak in the country so they have fortified the prevention strategies to the best of their abilities.
On arrival there was sight of two health workers one checking on everyone’s passport possibly to see travel history besides the obvious reason that we were coming from Kenya aboard a Kenyan Flight.
Those who passed the first test would then proceed to the second test of temperature reading. Once they are satisfied one would then proceed to the immigration desk for immigration formalities.
This is commendable, health officials should not take any risks, that since passengers are coming from an Ebola free country, then they have no Ebola.
The sad part of the Zimbabwe response is that the men and women screening for Ebola were not wearing any protective clothing save for a pair of gloves which they used on every one’s passport.
Should a positive case pass through them I am sure by the time the person is tested positive of Ebola, these men and women would have caught Ebola.
Recently, an American health official working in Zimbabwe Dr Peter Kirlmax told journalists that Zimbabwe was better prepared to deal with Ebola if it emerged than some countries in West Africa.
Dr Kilmarx was in Sierra Leone recently 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.”
Dr Kirlmarx said there was an urgent need for health workers in West Africa and has since called on his fellow medical professionals to also play a role in interrupting transmission at its source.
“I was privileged to serve with others from Zimbabwe in Sierra Leone last month and would encourage others to join,” he said.
His idea is not a bad one, it’s a good idea for the country. Am sure Dr Kirlmax is now more enlightened after a stint in Sierra Leone and just as well our medical professionals could learn one or two ideas.
To our health workers I say let’s take up the challenge and help our sisters and brothers in West Africa. Firstly it’s for your family’s own good because you will be ‘interrupting transmission at source’ as Dr Kirlmax aptly puts it across. If everyone fear for their lives and stay put in their countries those few assisting in these countries would be overwhelmed by the burden of care, the virus could get out of hand and spread from West to East and South of Africa affecting our families.
It is better we manage it from afar than closer to home or at home.
Someone, somewhere would say because I was in transit so there was no need to get screened, but imagine if had Ebola I would have passed it on to all those I was in contact with at these transit points before being quarantined at my destination.
Some colleagues coming from different parts of the world also expressed the same feelings that non-Ebola countries were not doing much to screen visitors of the virus.
However, others think Ebola screening especially by European countries starts when one submits their visa application.
One of the travellers whom I met at on my way back home said about 50 percent of African delegates failed to attend a workshop which was taking place in Spain as they were denied visas.
This traveller said he believed these delegates were denied visas because countries they were coming from where at risk of having Ebola or where experiencing the Ebola outbreak. He also said during visa application, Embassy official might also have been going through applicants’ travel history just to be sure the person was Ebola free.
He said travellers departing from countries affected by the outbreak where advised to seek itinerary-specific guidance from the authorities as they required more time for screening at every transit point, on arrival and departure.
Online Reporter