Medics express fear, doom if Ebola is to strike

Kenya is not prepared to handle the dreaded Ebola virus. From baffling lapses at the points of entry to ill-equipped medical staff, serious doubts have been raised on whether the country can stop the disease’s spread if, God forbid, a case was to be reported.

The concerns come amid fears by medical practitioners that they are being perilously exposed to the virus, with some confessing they would take off if an Ebola patient was brought before them.

Dr Elly Nyaim Opot, the Kenya Medical Association chairman, jetted into the country from South Africa last Sunday and says he was perplexed by the casual manner in which the government is handling the situation at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

“I arrived at about 4pm and there was no screening at all. They just stamped my passport and let me go,” he says, adding those arriving alongside him were equally overlooked.

The situation here is a stark contrast to that in South Africa where a dedicated team was at hand to take those arriving at the airport through the requisite procedures.

“Apart from screening, I had fill a very detailed form indicating the countries I had visited in recent weeks, my phone contacts as well as the hotel I was going to stay in among other details,” he says.

Big risk

This was barely hours after a woman with Ebola-like symptoms died at the airport shortly after arriving from Juba, South Sudan. A journalist who had covered the Ebola crisis in Liberia later told the press he was allowed to enter Kenya without any screening.

“We are not ready at all and I do not want to imagine of Ebola in Kenya,” says Opot. “We are facing a big risk since the disease is a fire that can spread very fast.”

Opot says apart from JKIA, the government must secure all entry points and put up regional quarantine and isolation centres as well as testing laboratories at major border crossings.

Panic mode

“We must stop solely relying on Kenyatta National Hospital and the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Nairobi. What if a positive case was reported in Busia?” he poses. “Public education is also critical in dealing with Ebola yet we are doing very little on this front”.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) says Kenya is not prepared and that public health alerts on the disease should be sent out during sensitisation campaigns and should adopt multi-sectoral approach than a sole mandate of the Ministry of Health.

 KMPDU Chairman, Dr Victor Ng’ani says the level of preparedness in medical facilities is worrying and most medics are living in constant fear for their lives.

“We still do not have isolation units and protective gear in most health facilities. Protocols on how to handle Ebola patients are yet to be disseminated,” he says.

Union Secretary General Sultani Matendechero challenged the government to roll out aggressive public health education on Ebola adding public participation was best if they were informed than being left to consume rumours.

Dr Ng’ani says inadequate public information on Ebola and disorganised screening at points of entry, coupled with lack of training, insurance and proper motivation for medical practitioners, has thrown medical fraternity into panic mode.

“Ask any nurse out there and she will admit that she will run away like any other person if she came across an Ebola case,” he states.

Dr Opot concurs. “Even at KNH, practitioners are worried, wondering what is next. The doctors know they have to handle any such patients, but at what cost?” he poses. Kenya National Union of Nurses chairman John Bii says nurses are ill-prepared to deal with any Ebola outbreak despite constant requests for the government to provide training and personal protective equipment.

“Our nurses, including those in regions near the border, are yet to get any protective clothing. The government has also not been clear on capacity building. It is a worrying situation and we are not comfortable with this at all,” he says.

All persons attending to or near an Ebola patient should at least wear gloves, a fluid resistant or impermeable gown, eye protection and a face mask. Additional gear such as double gloving, disposable shoes and leg coverings are required.

The Association of Kenya Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers earlier in the week issued a similar caution and called for decentralisation of testing laboratory facilities.

A health officer in one of the sub-counties near the Kenya-Uganda border painted a grim picture of the situation.

“Screening is being done for those entering the country, but we at times run away if a person has extremely high fever. We suspect the person has Ebola yet we do not know what to do with him,” he told The Standard on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

The medic revealed that despite the sub-county having more than 10 health facilities, it has been provided with just two special gowns, with the nearest ambulance service available at the county headquarters over 20 kilometers away.

“Are we supposed to share or re-use these gowns? A lot has been done on paper, but nothing much practically. We direly need basic sensitistion of health workers on how to handle suspected cases,” he states.

Despite government assurances that it has requisite measures in place to handle the virus, last week’s scare at JKIA saw airport management try to recall all passengers who had been aboard the Fly 540 plane for testing and quarantine way after majority had left.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia admitted a lapse, as the case ought to have been reported before the plane landed for appropriate measures to be taken.

Some health workers screening travelers for the virus at the airport separately complained of poor equipment and lack of follow-up checks on visitors from Ebola-struck countries after 21 days as stipulated in World Health Organisation regulations.

“This scare exposed everything; we dealt with it in an extremely haphazard way,” Opot adds.