PRESS STATEMENT ON THE RUMOURS OF THE SUSPECTED EBOLA CASE BY THE CHIEF OF HEALTH SERVICES DR. CHARLES MWANSAMBO AT CENTRAL OFFICE OF INFORMATION, LILONGWE, 7th AUGUST 2014 8:00AM Good Morning to you all, We gather here this morning to brief you and clarify some matters following the rumours yesterday through social media that Malawi has recorded the first suspected Ebola case. The rumours event went further that the patient had died. It is important that you treat this information with caution and seriousness it requires considering that Ebola is just not an ordinary disease. Its occurrence in Malawi will be of great concern not only to us but to the entire population. Following the rumours that Malawi may have the Ebola case, we sent a team comprising of our Ebola National Response Strategy that went to the ABC Clinic which is the source of this information. Our team had discussions with the people they found on the ground to confirm if indeed what was circulating within the general public was true. We are here to share with you what we have preliminary found out from the investigations a. It is true that ABC clinic saw a 24 year old Malawian woman who apparently seeing the posters describing the signs and symptoms of Ebola, she felt the urge to consult the hospital after her recent trip to East Africa, Rwanda. She came back to Malawi about three or four days ago. b. The staff of ABC clinic, after reviewing her found no reason to even suspect or believe that this person is an Ebola suspect. It is important at this moment to mention that almost all the clinicians at this clinic have been oriented on some basics of identifying or suspecting Ebola. We also have information that when the client left the hospital, a receptionist at the clinic sent a face book message to her colleague (or colleagues) telling them that ABC Clinic had just seen an Ebola suspect and that more details would soon come from the Ministry of Health. We strongly condemn this practice as it has created fear and apprehension from the general population. We would like therefore to inform you all that the Ministry of Health is ready at any point in time with available facts to inform the general public on any developments associated with Ebola. We are aware that Ebola is a disease that will mainly be prevented if people are aware and understand its nature, especially on symptoms and signs. At this moment, we would like to call upon the general public to remain calm and be assured that we are doing all it can to prevent its occurrence in Malawi. In an event that we have a confirmed case, the public will be informed and we will also do all the necessary action as per the guidance of the World Health Organization in how we can manage this case. We also call upon all health workers to avoid creating panic and confusion on matters that are yet to be confirmed as it has been in this case. Our health workers at all entry points remain vigilant to monitor this situation and we are doing everything possible to make our country free of Ebola I thank you for your attention. May God Bless you all and bless our country Malawi
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 14:26:12 +0000