THREE-DAY LOCK DOWN: SOME OBSERVATIONS By: Milton Margai The three-day lockdown in Sierra Leone started on Friday 19th and ended on Sunday 21st September 2014 (a move to contain Ebola and to raise awareness). The authorities claim it was a success. Nevertheless, some say it is too early to know whether the exercise was successful at all. Sierra Leone Matters made some observations during the exercise. COOPERATION Though the exercise was deemed drastic the people of Sierra Leone did adhere and stayed in their respective homes to welcome volunteers. There were few cases of people who took to the nearby bushes in the provinces because there were rumours that the soap that was being distributed was poisoned. Others refused to hand over their dead relatives for burial. This was just a handful of cases but overall the masses cooperated with the authorities. SENSITISATION Majority of people are now aware of how deadly Ebola is but there is still a question in some people’s mind as to how this deadly disease made its way to Sierra Leone. One believes that the three-day lockdown would have given the masses the opportunity to reflect on the seriousness of the crisis at hand. The incident is unprecedented and that would only help push the message that the epidemic must be taken seriously and that all must do their parts in order to contain the disease. There is a high illiteracy level in the country and the home visits would have been a more effective way to target the illiterate masses. For those that can read and write the information was quite basic and something they know about already. AWARENESS People were aware before the lock down. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the exercise would have increased the level of awareness. There was an opportunity for residents to ask questions and for volunteers to debunk certain myths. VOLUNTEERS One has to doff his hat to the tens of thousands of volunteers who contributed immensely to the exercise. They put their lives in danger in order to sensitise; recover corpse, identify new cases and delivering much needed food items to homes quarantined. I am however disappointed with the behaviours of some who turned up at people’s houses drunk and incoherent. That was irresponsible to say the least. That was a letdown and it goes to show that certain members of society still do not take the epidemic seriously. SOAPS, STICKERS & LEAFLETS Soaps (72%) were delivered to most homes but not all. The soap symbolises the fact that people should take hand washing seriously. Some joked that they were given the 72% soap to stay indoors for 72 hours (meaning 1% = 1hr). Stickers were put on houses that were visited but some complained that volunteers visited their houses without stickers. Leaflets were distributed in some houses but not all. With the leaflets, however, you need basic education to be able to read it effectively. One wonders how useful it was for household where everyone is illiterate. International organisations and NGOs distributed food to houses where people are quarantined. No report of food ration for the poor and disadvantaged who live from hand to mouth. EMERGENCY/BURIAL TEAM RESPONSE The emergency/burial teams were very busy during the three days. They were overwhelmed with the number of corpses and new cases that they had to attend to. During the three days about a hundred dead bodies were recovered and buried. There were also over a hundred new cases. During the lockdown, Umaru Fofanah, a journalist based in Freetown had this to say: “The issue of corpses is at the heart of the Ebola lockdown. Dead bodies are being found across the country. Some families resisting handing them over. Methinks President Ernest Bai Koroma should make an urgent address to the nation on this. Meanwhile the facilities are not adequate to respond satisfactorily to (suspected) patients. Holding centres and treatment clinics are grossly inadequate.” There were reports from others regarding the slow response at times. Sometimes people had to wait for hours or days for the emergency or burial teams to arrive. Nevertheless, these teams can only work with what they have got. The resources and logistics are not adequate enough for them to be everywhere at once. They should be commended. On the first day there were over 900 emergency calls to the toll free number 117. One believes thousands more used it during the three days. This is encouraging. That people could voluntarily call suggests they are slowly beginning to trust the medical teams. However, there were reports from some that they called the number but there was no response. Those that spoke to the call handlers said the response was painfully slow. FIVE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES • To reach 100% of households with correct information on Ebola • To increase community acceptance of Ebola affected persons especially children • To promote hand washing with soap at household level (1.5 million bars of soap will be distributed) • To rebuild public confidence and trust in the health system • To install neighborhood watch structures at community level OUTCOME • The volunteers did their utmost best but were not able to reach 100% of homes. • The home visits and talk from the volunteers has the potential to increase the community’s acceptance of Ebola affected persons but it is too early to conclude whether that is the case. • The bar of soap can be used as a symbolism to symbolise sanitation and cleanliness. Hand washing was indeed promoted but not to 1.5 million households. • Rebuilding the public’s confidence and trust in the health system is ambitious, especially in Sierra Leone where the healthcare system is non-existent. This would take time and the three-day lock down alone cannot achieve that. It is a process and one only hopes that the voluntary calls to the emergency lines are a sign that people are beginning to trust medical experts. The message we should be pushing now is: EARLY DIAGNOSIS + EARLY TREATMENT = CHANCE OF SUCCESS. sierraleonematters.co.uk/three-day-lockdown-some-observations/
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 11:26:59 +0000
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