By Hassan Bruz, reporting from Kambia, Northern Sierra Leone.
The Kambia District Health Management Team has been encouraged to sustain the fight against the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease. This was the conclusion of a statement by the Resident Minister of the Northern Province, Honourable Alie D Kamara (photo).
He was on an assessment visit to the district with regards the prevalence of the dreadful Ebola disease. He used the opportunity to stress the need for the people of Kambia to remain vigilant in ensuring that their enviable record of zero tolerance in the Ebola fight is maintained. The Minister based his statement upon the realisation that the district only had one recorded confirmed case of Ebola since its outbreak in the country several months ago.
The Minister in his address to stakeholders at the weekly Taskforce meeting on Ebola, expressed thanks and appreciation for upkeeping the fight in spite of all the odds. He noted that Kambia is the border district with over 679 crossing points or bypass routes to and from the Republic of Guinea where the disease emanated and spread to Sierra Leone. He spoke of the escalating figures in the sister districts of Port Loko and Bombali, adding that most towns and villages in the district would have been ravaged by the disease and positioned it with the highest number of deaths or infected persons if it were not for the relentless efforts of the district Health Management Team. The Minister spoke of the immense setback the disease has brought to the development agenda of the entire nation and its potential to wreak more havoc if Sierra Leoneans do not join hands in the fight. He said the fight should be disssociated from politics but for all to complement the efforts of Government and make it a winnable war.
While encouraging them to remain more determined in ensuring that the figure does not go beyond the only recorded confirmed case, the Minister informed the people of Kambia about the determination of His Excellency President Ernest Koroma to have this Ebola thing nipped in the bud. He said the Government has therefore provided some money for the fight against the disease to the various districts including Kambia itself. The Minister said this is an emergency situation and it would be time wasting to go through the usual protocols accessing money from the Government coffers which was why he had cause to instruct the District Medical Officer to go ahead with the disbursement of money so as to enable the District Health Management Team address the most urgent issues at hand. He however cautioned and called for for the judicious utilisation of the funds and for records to be kept for any amount spent in order to enhance transparency and accountability.
In his remarks, the Director of Primary Health Care, Dr. Momodu Sesay who formed part of the team deployed in the district to combat the disease, noted that the issue of sustenance is crucial and requires all the pertinent measures such as resource mobilisation. His statement was buttressed by the representative of the World Health Organization, Sherbora Kamara who said the mandate of his organization was to provide technical support. He however observed that the magnitude of the disease in the country is indeed scary. He said the death rate is more than what was being portrayed due to what he referred to as Community Deaths. He therefore stressed the need to strengthen the Thematic Groups so as to avoid a re-emergence of the disease as was the case in some countries that went through similar outbreaks.
Dr. Foday Sesay is the District Medical Officer in Kambia. He viewed the visit of the Resident Minister as a special blessing to the Task Force on Ebola and the Kambia District Health Management Team as a whole. He outlined some of the modalities they had put in place to stop the spread of the virus in the district such as the ongoing sensitisation campaigns, Training programmes of Surveillance, Contact Tracers and Burial Teams. Dr. Sesay however singled out the issue of ignorance and refusal of certain categories of community members to comply with medical advice as one of the key challenges they are faced with in the district. He made particular reference to the stiff resistance put up by the Kambia Town community towards the establishment of an Ebola Holding Centre in the township. The District Medical Officer went further to brief the Minister on the prevailing Traditional Treatment of diseases and its impact. As endorsed by the Kambia District Council Chairman, Sheik S. A Sankoh, there has been a steady inflow of traditional health service seekers in the district. He disclosed that most of these were people that have been declared as Ebola Suspects, adding that it has become a major setback to the eradication of the Ebola Virus in the various communities. He cited the case of Tonkoh Limba Chiefdom where people often go to witch doctors for treatment and related medication. It was therefore agreed that all witch doctors should refrain from practicing their craft for the mean time. The issue of the Holding Centre was also laid to rest after the Minister made a phone call to the Apostolic Administrator of the Catholic Mission for the use of their former Polio Home in Kambia as a Holding Centre.
The Paramount Chief of Magbema Chiefdom, Bai Farama Bubu Ngbek appealed for logistical support in sensitising his subjects and for the distribution of copies of the list of bye laws to the towns and villages in his chiefdom.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Kambia District Officer, Alfred Lahai, ended with an assurance that the people of Kambia will do their best to ensure the upkeep of their enviable record in the fight against the ebola virus disease. According to the Chief Administrator of the Kambia District Council, Konkoro Kamara , they will make sure that no one dies of Ebola in Kambia.
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