The District Medical Officer Kenema Dr. Mohamed Vandi has said that there is a great challenge in addressing the medical needs of Ebola survivors. He disclosed that there is no Ebola survivor without a medical complication. He made this statement while speaking to Awoko in his office at the government hospital along Combema road in Kenema.
Dr. Vandi said the free health care drugs that they receive at the hospital and the peripheral health unit do not address the health needs of the Ebola patients, adding the Ebola patients need special drugs to take care of their health complications.
He maintained that whenever an Ebola survivor visits the hospital they always attend to them by giving them the available drugs which he said hardly address their health problem. He stated that there is a need to go beyond that point, stressing that the available free health care drugs are meant for special categories of people such as lactating mothers, pregnant women and children.
The District Medical Officer said there is great need for the supply of special drugs that will address the health needs of the survivors.
Talking about the Ebola outbreak Dr. Vandi explained that the Ebola war was a bitter experience for them all as medical practitioners and their partners, adding they were overwhelmed because they did not have the resources, that is why it got up to that magnitude.
He said Lassa fever is in the country but it has never gone up to that high stage like getting up to 15 patients at a go. He said Ebola is more violent than Lassa.
The DMO said Ebola started from Liberia, then spread to Eastern part of Sierra Leone, Kailahun district, Koidu to Daru then to Kenema. Most families in Daru are connected to people in Kenema, when Ebola hit Daru most of them came to Kenema and fell sick and because they have lost confidence in their health care system in the communities, even when in Kenema they failed to visit the hospital they were being treated at homes in Kenema and that is how it spread faster in Kenema and its environs.
Dr. Mohamed Vandi said the most memorable day in his life time is the day Dr. Umar Khan died of Ebola. That was the day most people in the Kenema district changed their perception about the virus despite his continuous sensitization about the virus over a month yet still people were not going by it.
Dr. Vandi maintained that the lesson he learnt in the Ebola battle is the positive political influence in Kenema that was received from the political leadership in the then Resident Minister Maya Moiwo Kaikai, Mayor Kenema City Council Joseph Samba Keifala, Kenema District Council Chairman Dr. Senesie Mansaray, Councilors, Paramount Chiefs, the press and the security forces as they allowed the professionals to take the lead in the battle by directing the response … a cooperation he said was not happening in many parts of the country that is why the virus dragged on and on.
Monica Mosenero Masanza, named Kornya meaning female warrior in mende was a Ugandan doctor hired by Metabiodata. At first she was the main pillar behind the success in Kenema district explained Dr. Vandi.
Ericson Turay Ebola survivor admitted on 15th July 2014 and discharged 2nd August 2014. Since then life has not been easy with them, they have received money from UNDP, some food items from the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs. Now in 2016 they have started to receive some health assistance from Goal Sierra Leone. He said there is no survival that has good health status. Turay said they need support in terms of health, education, business and skill training for survivors.
By Saffa B. Moriba
Tuesday November 08, 2016
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