By State House Communications Unit
A
high level delegation from the World Health Organization (WHO) led by
Dr Keiji Fukunda, Assistant Director General for Health Security paid a
courtesy call on President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma at State House on
Wednesday 9th July while on its mission to evaluate the situation on the
ground and how best to partner with the Ministry of Health and
Sanitation to contain the Ebola outbreak in the country.
The
delegation was accompanied by the Minister of Health and Sanitation,
Miatta Kargbo. Other members of the delegation included Dr Benido
Impouma, WHO Ebola Coordinator in West Africa and Dr Jacob Mufunda, WHO
Country Representative in Sierra Leone.
Welcoming
the delegation, President Koroma commended the efforts of the Ministry
of Health and Sanitation for putting trained personnel in the field to
handle cases of Ebola in the two affected districts of Kailahun and
Kenema. “By the update we are getting,” the President said, “the Ebola
virus is a serious matter and needs very serious attention. Even though
the number of deaths has increased, we have cases of people that have
been discharged which is an indication that something positive is
happening,” he stressed.
Meanwhile,
the President also reported on government’s collaborative efforts
through ministries, parliamentarians and political parties in addressing
the challenges, especially the perception of local communities that
Ebola does not exist; a situation that has been addressed with high
sensitization campaigns. Now that the people have fully realized that
Ebola is real, President Koroma strongly appealed to all including donor
partners to come onboard to get rid of this deadly disease. “I am sure
with those collaborative efforts we will be able to address it and in
this regard we direly need the support of the international community to
align their own intervention with ours so as to work as a team. We
don’t need to have parallel programs in this approach.”
“I
am happy that you indicated that the situation has not yet gone out of
control. We hope that WHO will do all that it can to ensure that the
issue of additional professional equipment, ambulances, protective
gears, the training of people that will handle the situation within the
affected areas and also those that we need to put in a state of
preparedness out of Kenema and Kailahun districts will enhance and
continue the overall sensitization,” said President Koroma.
In
response, Dr Keiji Fukunda said the visit was not only to do an
assessment with respect to the gravity of the situation on the ground,
but to discuss with President Koroma and the people of Sierra Leone
about what WHO and other partners can do to help the country in the
fight against the outbreak. Dr Fukunda reported that during a meeting in
Accra on the Ebola outbreak in the sub-region, it was noted that
President Koroma’s speech on the outbreak was considered to be a
critical step forward as it captured the attention of all participants
owing to the tone and gravity of the situation reported in the speech.
According
to the WHO representative, some of the major challenges of the outbreak
have to do with people and communities being scared and terrified by
rumours, which he said are the most difficult things to address in such a
situation. He commended the efforts of the Health Minister, saying that
she has been on top of the situation. “I know that this kind of
situation needs the right staff and expertise, and WHO will therefore
continue working closely with the ministry and other organizations
working here to bring as much of the world’s resources as possible to
attend to this bad disease”.
Allaying
the fears of the people, the WHO Assistant Director General for Health
Security who had travelled with the Health Minister to Kailahun and
Kenema, disagreed with the views that the Ebola situation in the country
is out of control. “I don’t believe that the situation is out of
control; I do believe however that the situation is urgent and serious,
but I believe that the right steps have been implemented,” adding that
it is a matter of more persistence and more work to get a turn around.
He
further intimated that Ebola is now a sub-regional issue. “This is
really now a sub-regional issue and I think working with your
counterparts will be very important.” Dr Fukunda also noted that
countries like Uganda and DR Congo which had been previously affected
can be called upon to provide expertise and technical assistance to help
with the fight against the disease. “The appropriate person to call for
such assistance is you, Mr. President,” he suggested. http://www.statehouse.gov.sl/index.php/component/content/article/34-news-articles/909-who-delegation-pays-courtesy-call-on-president-koroma
