SADC Imposes Travel Restrictions Over Ebola
September 9, 2014
Paidamoyo Chipunza Health Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald
The Sadc Health Forum has imposed travel restrictions on people, including long distance truck drivers, coming into the region from countries affected by the Ebola virus in a move meant to manage the outbreak.In the region, the Ebola virus has affected only the Democratic Republic of Congo which is experiencing a different strain from the one that has claimed more than 2 000 lives in some countries in West Africa.
In a communiqué released after the Sadc Health Ministers’ extraordinary meeting held in Victoria Falls last Friday, the ministers said in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005, people with a history of close contact with those infected, the infected dead bodies and the infected animals will be quarantined for a period of up to 21 days.
The ministers said people entering any Sadc country from an affected country as advised by the World Health Organisation will also be subjected to screening and will not leave a country for the next 21 days while under monitoring.
“If it is absolutely essential for them to leave before completion of the 21 day period, the next country should be notified and should continue with the surveillance for the remaining period,” said the ministers.
They also agreed to discourage citizens in their countries from travelling to affected countries or high risk areas and also avoid mass gatherings involving people from the affected countries unless when it is also necessary to do so.
“Public health interventions should be standardised to prevent the spread of Ebola into respective countries,” the ministers said.
“The common interventions include procurement and prepositioning of personal protective equipment, training of health workers, sensitisation of stakeholders, identification and equipping of isolation/treatment centres, laboratory diagnosis and screening of travellers at all critical points of entry or exit.”
In his opening remarks to the meeting, chairman of the Sadc Health Ministers Dr David Parirenyatwa emphasised the need for communication and standardisation of interventions to combat Ebola.
“We need to use the political leadership, the religious leadership, the traditional leadership — almost like what we did with HIV,” he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa said for Zimbabwe, Government will be using the decentralised national Aids structures for information dissemination on Ebola.
Ebola is highly infectious and only transmits through fluids, with its initial symptoms including fever, colds and weakness before complicating to bleeding from all possible openings.
So far, over 2 000 people have died of the disease in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and the DRC.
 |
| SADC Chairman of health ministers David Parirenyatwa. |
Paidamoyo Chipunza Health Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald
The Sadc Health Forum has imposed travel restrictions on people, including long distance truck drivers, coming into the region from countries affected by the Ebola virus in a move meant to manage the outbreak.In the region, the Ebola virus has affected only the Democratic Republic of Congo which is experiencing a different strain from the one that has claimed more than 2 000 lives in some countries in West Africa.
In a communiqué released after the Sadc Health Ministers’ extraordinary meeting held in Victoria Falls last Friday, the ministers said in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005, people with a history of close contact with those infected, the infected dead bodies and the infected animals will be quarantined for a period of up to 21 days.
The ministers said people entering any Sadc country from an affected country as advised by the World Health Organisation will also be subjected to screening and will not leave a country for the next 21 days while under monitoring.
“If it is absolutely essential for them to leave before completion of the 21 day period, the next country should be notified and should continue with the surveillance for the remaining period,” said the ministers.
They also agreed to discourage citizens in their countries from travelling to affected countries or high risk areas and also avoid mass gatherings involving people from the affected countries unless when it is also necessary to do so.
“Public health interventions should be standardised to prevent the spread of Ebola into respective countries,” the ministers said.
“The common interventions include procurement and prepositioning of personal protective equipment, training of health workers, sensitisation of stakeholders, identification and equipping of isolation/treatment centres, laboratory diagnosis and screening of travellers at all critical points of entry or exit.”
In his opening remarks to the meeting, chairman of the Sadc Health Ministers Dr David Parirenyatwa emphasised the need for communication and standardisation of interventions to combat Ebola.
“We need to use the political leadership, the religious leadership, the traditional leadership — almost like what we did with HIV,” he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa said for Zimbabwe, Government will be using the decentralised national Aids structures for information dissemination on Ebola.
Ebola is highly infectious and only transmits through fluids, with its initial symptoms including fever, colds and weakness before complicating to bleeding from all possible openings.
So far, over 2 000 people have died of the disease in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and the DRC.
No comments:
Post a Comment