Southern African states to collaborate on Ebola HEALTH ministers in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) have agreed to collaborate in the event of an outbreak of Ebola in the region. The ministers held an extraordinary meeting in Johannesburg yesterday to plan a coherent response should the Ebola outbreak in West Africa spread to other regions of the continent as feared. Malawi Health Minister and Sadc chairman Dr Jean Kalilani said the outbreak was the deadliest in history, and urged her counterparts to lead in the efforts to manage the disease. The devastating pandemic is reported to have killed more than 800 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. There has not been a reported case of Ebola in the Sadc region but there is a risk. People travel frequently between Southern and West African countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued recommendations for public health authorities and transport organisations with regard to travel and transport risk assessments. It has not sought travel restrictions or routine screening of passengers at points of entry. A study is under way on whether to declare the outbreak an international public health epidemic, according to WHO representative Dr Francis Kosolo. Among other things, the Sadc ministers agreed to organise cross-border consultations to facilitate the exchange of information, and to strengthen surveillance of the virus. They agreed to commit additional financial resources, but proposed a regional fund for emergency situations as a long-term solution. SA was chosen as the centre of excellence in Ebola laboratory diagnosis in the region. It is expected to help with the training of health professionals treating infected individuals. Prof Janusz Paweska, head of the Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, said SA would send a mobile laboratory to the affected West African countries. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said SA was well prepared and several hospitals had been identified to treat infected people. These include Charlotte Maxeke, Steve Biko Academic in Gauteng, Polokwane Hospital in Limpopo and Frere Hospital in the Eastern Cape. An analysis of basic global healthcare metric doctor-patient ratios may be the key in helping to identify the West African states next most vulnerable to the Ebola outbreak. Unsurprisingly, the countries that are at the epicentres of the pandemic, have the worst doctor-patient ratios in West Africa, at more than 86 000 patients per doctor in Liberia, and 45 000 patients per doctor in Sierra Leonne. Andile Makholwa: Business Day
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 14:26:13 +0000