Let us all acknowledge the selfless efforts of the doctors and nurses, and the ancillary staff, involved in the on-going battle against Ebola. Nurse Pauline Cafferkey in the Royal Free Hospital is one amongst many volunteers and is not deserving of the mindless criticism levied by some uncaring and selfish individuals. We must all pray for her and all other victims at this time.
The last checkpoint before Freetown!
Umaru Fofana
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE:
POLICE AIG SLAPS MILITARY OFFICER
Freetown, Sierra Leone, December 21, 2014 – I have been inundated with media enquiries since this evening with regards the slapping of a military officer by the Regional Police Commander, Freetown West, AIG Memunatu Conteh.
As a response, I can confirm that at about 4pm today, AIG Memuna (as she is commonly called) publicly slapped Warrant Officer (Class Two) Alimamy Dura at the Newton Checkpoint and also ordered her body guard to beat up the military personnel.
I can also confirm that the Newton Checkpoint would have become an UGLY SCENE this evening if the Warrant Officer and some other military personnel had not exercised restraint after the AIG Memuna’s body guard (a Police Sergeant) had violently pushed the Warrant Officer.
I can attest that this is not the FIRST TIME that AIG Memuna has successfully carried out public humiliation against military personnel. There are many instances of her NOTORIETY towards RSLAF personnel.
Full Details of the Newton incident and the history of AIG Memuna’s personal vendetta against the military will be published.
Contact: Captain Yayah Brima, Media Operations Cell, Headquarters Joint Force Command, Freetown.
Sierra Leone begins house-to-house searches
Sierra Leone begins house-to-house searches
The authorities want to ensure that anyone who may be displaying symptoms of Ebola comes forward for treatment
Sierra Leone has begun house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.
President Ernest Bai Koroma said that Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted.
The president said that as Christmas approached, people would need to be reminded that Sierra Leona was at war with a “vicious enemy”.
Sierra Leone has overtaken Liberia to have the highest number of Ebola cases, World Health Organization figures show.
The virus has killed more than 6,800 people this year, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Sierra Leone has had more Ebola cases than any other country
In his statement, President Koroma said the searches aimed to “break the chain of transmission”.
He added: “Do not hide the sick.”
The president said that while many districts of the country had made progress in fighting Ebola, challenges still remained in the western part of the country, which for the past two weeks had accounted for 50% of new infections.
He said that he was introducing an action plan, Operation Western Area Surge, to encourage people to come forward if they had a fever or other symptoms of Ebola.
He said it was necessary to introduce such stringent measures even though it was the festive season – a time when people would normally “celebrate with their families in a joyous manner”.
The president also said that:
- Travel restrictions between districts would be enforced over the Christmas period
- Christians would be allowed to attend church services, but would be requested to return home immediately afterwards
- All New Year’s Day festivities including church services and outings would be prohibited or severely restricted
- In addition to the blanket Sunday trading ban, the new measures would include time restrictions on Saturday and weekday shopping.
The prevalence of the virus in the capital Freetown is thought to be one of the reasons why Ebola is spreading so fast in the west.
Our correspondent in Sierra Leone, Umaru Fofana, said the measures were partly aimed at controlling crowds.
He said people in Freetown continued to gather on the streets or go jogging along the beach despite the Ebola threat.
This is not the first time that Sierra Leone has used stringent tactics to locate Ebola sufferers, but none have stopped the rise in infections.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Tom Frieden told the AP news agency that “the fight is going to be long and hard to get to zero cases”, and is heavily contingent on sick individuals coming forward to be diagnosed.
From BBC News website
Western Area now has exactly 2,500 Cases of Ebola!
Urban = 1553 Rural = 947
Port Loko over 1,000
Bombali is over 900
Tonkolili now at 400
15th Dec. Ebola Data:
Total Laboratory-confirmed Ebola Cases
= 6,702 as follows:
Western Urban = 1,553, Western Rural = 947
Port Loko = 1,018, Bombali = 909
Kailahun = 565, Kenema = 495
Tonkolili = 400, Bo = 297
Moyamba = 173, Kono = 124
Kambia = 97, Koinadugu = 89
Pujehun = 31, Bonthe = 4
Sensitisation Session Saturday in Newton
The Newton Committee organised an Ebola Sensitization Workshop in Newton, attended by around 200 individuals. The Western Area of Sierra Leone is still giving great cause for concern, whilst cases in the rest of the country are declining. This effort by the committee has been funded by contributions from supporters of the Olney-Newton Link and is much appreciated.
These pictures were sent by WhatsApp!
The UN Special Envoy on Ebola Dr. David Nabarro said today that the first area of concern was western Sierra Leone, in particular, the capital Freetown, and Port Loko, where there are high levels of transmission and “a much more intense response” is needed.
He did say that some of the most experienced Ebola responders in the world were working in that area, together with UNMEER’s “Western Area Surge team,” the Government, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to ensure there were enough beds and burial teams. The UN envoy explained the logistical difficulty of staffing the Ebola treatment units with 300 beds that require some 300 people. The staff needed to change shifts every three to four hours because of the heat of the protective clothing, and each changeover was a dangerous moment, as was each interaction with patients, particularly with needles.
Kerry Town Centre : Save the Children admits lack of capacity
Interim Director of ‘Save the Children’ UK for Ebola, Michael Von Bertele, yesterday told journalist at the Special Court that they are saddened by the criticisms levied on them for their operations at Kerry Town.
The Interim Director said 10 weeks ago, they were approached by the Department for International Development (DfID) to run the Kerry Town, and they made it clear to them that it was new to them, but however, they will try their level best to bring success to the country.
‘We hope with support from WHO and UK National Health Services (NHS) we will be able to operate fully and help infected victims get proper care and hopefully get patients well and free of Ebola.”
He said the centre was opened on the 5th November and because they lacked the capacity, they had to start from scratch, to recruit staff from all over the world, which made them to start with five patients in the first week.
“Four weeks now, we have 40- beds operating because we have nurses from Ministry of Health and 21 medics from the NHS. We are expecting more nurses from MOHS today, as we are on track to get the 80- beds running.”
Michael Von Bertele averred that they have been discharging patients by the day and today Tuesday, they will discharge another two. We are doing all this quietly, as the lab we have is one of the best and we have started testing 150 samples a day and we will continue the upgrading, until it will increase to 300 a day.”
He said they are the only centre that accepts samples at night, so that the result can be ready by morning.
“Currently we have admitted over 70 patients and presently we have 25 children and the youngest is two years old.”
Also the Interim Director averred that they are building a child care centre that was not part of the program, but they have to because there are many children that are vulnerable who need care during and after the Ebola.
“Let me make this very clear to all that Save the Children is up for the fight and we will succeed as we go along.”
The Country Director of Save the Children UK, Rob Macgillivray, in his own remarks said they have never done this kind of program before, so they had to approach it step by step.
‘Ebola is an unwelcome visitor, so we have to drive it out of Africa and the way we will do it is to do it with care and safely. I want to thank the Kerry Town Community as they have provided us with the highest number of employees.”
‘We should always have it in the back of our minds that Ebola is not the only killer disease, as malaria, diarrhea are all killing people, so we must stand shoulder to shoulder with all to win this fight.”
Speaking about the centre for health care workers, he said the British Ministry of Defence is running it and they have treated over 20 patients from all over the country. We also want to acknowledge the support from other NGOs that have been working with us to win the fight, as 25 patients were admitted on Sunday in the centre.”
The Interim Director Michael Von Bertele said they have 250 local staff employed and they are being paid by Save the Children and also their hazard allowances to be paid by them. “We are on track to get all the 80 beds operational by end of the month as they are still employing local and international staff to work in the centre.”
“I want to make it very clear that we have no regret in taking this challenge and we believe that it is in our own interest to work well and get the experience for the future. Also I want to be clear that DfID asked us to run the centre as well as President Koroma, even though they knew we had no experience before, but I want to appeal to all that we are very effective and we will continue to be until Ebola is kicked out of Sierra Leone”.
Tuesday December 09, 2014
Mass administration of Anti-malarial drug
Mass Drug Administration Campaign Starts Today – Dec 5, 2014
The Mass Drug Administration Anti Malaria Campaign organized by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation National Malaria Control Programme is to kick start in Eight (8) Ebola affected districts in the country. The targeted districts include Bombali, Port Loko, Tonkolili, Koinadugu, Moyamba,Kambia, Western Urban and Rural.
Giving an overview of the Mass Drug Administration, the Programme Manager, Dr. Samuel Juana Smith, described fever as a cardinal symptom for malaria infection and also one of the cardinal symptoms of Ebola viral disease. He underscored the importance in making frantic efforts to reduce the incidence and prevalence of the malaria infection with a view to reducing the strain on the health system and allow what he referred to as the true cases of Ebola to be found and treated. The Ministry of Health and Sanitation and partners WHO, UNICEF, MSF in line with the above poised to undertake a mass distribution of the country’s first line anti-malarial ArtesunateAmodiaquine as a supplement to ongoing routine activities in Ebola hot spots, and areas where high incidence of Ebola Virus Disease cases have been reported.
The administration of the drug would be door-to-door, with Direct Observe Treatment (DOT) for first dose, and client would be educated and encouraged to comply with the treatment by taking the two subsequent doses on the two days following the administration of the first dose.
According to Dr. Smith, distribution would be accompanied with strict adherence to the “No Touch” policy, building on existing District Health Management Teams and Community Health Workers Network would be enforced. “Only antimalarial will be distributed to households over the period December 5-8, 2014, and lessons learned during the first cycle will guide the decision on whether any maternal child health interventions should be added to the second cycle”. Dr. Smith maintained.
“Incomplete households will be revisited by distribution team members to complete administration to any members missed in the initial visit”, he added.
The malaria prevention and control strategies aim to achieve three objectives:
- Reduce malaria morbidity
- Lower the number of febrile patients with malaria to “unload” Ebola assessment service
- Increase the protection of front-line health workers engaged in the fight against these two deadly diseases.
The four expected benefits with ACT Mass Drug Administration:
– Rapid reduction in malaria morbidity and mortality
– Decreased incidence of febrile illnesses due to malaria, a reduced presentation of febrile patients at Ebola evaluation facilities, resulting in low risk of transmission of Ebola to malaria patients and lessened workload at these facilities
– Improve the credibility of health service delivery, including community outreach and
– The possible delivery in combination with other interventions.
British Engineers Proudly Deliver
Sierra Leone News : British Engineers Proudly Deliver By British Government through Joint Forces in Sierra Leone Dec 4, 2014
THE Royal Engineers who have deployed on Operation Gritrock in Sierra Leone are now into the final phase of their mission.
This week sees the final 5 British military built Ebola Treatment Centre sites transition into a completion and handover phase. The NGO end users have taken ownership of two ETC sites (Goderich and Hastings) over the weekend and the remaining three sites have handed partial occupancy to their respective NGO’s so that they may begin fitting out buildings. The Goderich site is on the field of Bishop Jane Allen school where Claire Lintern [Mrs Tarawally] taught and close to where she now lives with Mahmoud.
The Royal Engineers from 62 Works Group Royal Engineers, comprising of 522 and 523 Specialist Teams and 34 Field Squadron deployed in late September to Sierra Leone as part of the UK’s response to assisting the government of Sierra Leone; their task was to erect Ebola Treatment Centres in 6 locations.
After a rapid planning and design process co-ordination teams were assigned to their sites. The Royal Engineers supported by Sierra Leonean Armed Forces and Sierra Leonean tradesmen, set about construction with haste.
Lieutenant Colonel Gavin Hatcher, Officer Commanding 62 Works Group Royal Engineers said: “The tenacity and extraordinary dedication of the teams on the sites has meant that we have delivered facilities that would normally take 4 ½ month to build in just 42 days.”
Since being deployed the Engineers have adapted to the evolving situation in country constructing 6 new build Ebola Treatment Centres with a capacity of 600 beds and assisting in the development of a further 400 beds in community care centres. Lt. Col. Hatcher added: “These treatment centres will be at the frontline on the battle against the Ebola Virus Disease. My teams have worked closely with DfID and the NGO community to give them what they need and worked tirelessly, through the rain, mud and humidity, to complete each site in the shortest possible timeframe – I am immensely proud of what they have achieved”.
Facebook report by Brima James Kabia 4th December
This is quarantine home in village named SONGO LOKO WARD 344 CONSTITUENCY 95 IN THE KOYARURL DISTRICT. A woman was suspected to be infected with the virus was taken to an holding centre. The result comes out to be positive she had since been taken to a treatment centre. The home is under quarantine with seven people in it. This fare away from Newton but in the same ward and constituency. My supervisor is on the bike and colleague contact tracer in yellow. We just went there to get an over view of the situation. Please pray for the victim and the home. God bless you as you do.
Songo is about 5 miles East of the centre of Newton, bordering the Port Loko district.
Kerry Town Treatment Centre – SL Government statement
GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE
MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
PRESS RELEASE
THE KERRY TOWN EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE
THE KERRY TOWN EBOLA TREATMENT FACILITY IS THE BRAIN CHILD OF HIS EXCELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT, DR. ERNEST BAI KOROMA, TO PROVIDE QUALITY TREATMENT THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL SIERRA LEONEANS AFFECTED BY THE EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE. IN PURSUANCE OF THIS OBJECTIVE, THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE COMMITTED FUNDS FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE OF THE PROJECT.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FACILITY WAS AT AN ADVANCED STAGE WITH FUNDS PROVIDED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE WHEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK) REPRESENTED BY THE BRITISH DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID) APPROACHED THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE AND EXPRESSED ITS INTEREST AND DESIRE TO FURTHER SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE BY TAKING OVER THE RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPLETING AND OPERATIONALIZING THE FACILITY. IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP THAT EXISTS BETWEEN THE TWO GOVERNMENTS, AND THE JOINT DESIRE TO ADEQUATELY CATER FOR VICTIMS OF THE EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD), GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE ACCEPTED THE REQUEST FROM THE UK.
SHORTLY AFTER THE COMMISSIONING OF THE FACILITY, TWO ISSUES BECAME APPARENT AND A CAUSE FOR CONCERN BY THE PUBLIC.
- THE LOW BED OCCUPANCY AND THE SLOW PACE OF SCALING UP ADMISSIONS
- THE PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE UK WHICH HAS BEEN INTERPRETED AS DESIGNED TO DENY SIERRA LEONEAN HEALTH WORKERS WORKING IN FACILITIES OTHER THAN THE BRITISH-FUNDED ONES FROM RECEIVING CARE IN THE SPECIAL 12-20 BED FACILITY RESERVED FOR INFECTED HEALTH WORKERS.
THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION AS WELL AS THE UK PARTIES TAKE THESE CONCERNS FROM THE PUBLIC VERY SERIOUS. TO THIS END THERE HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE HIGH LEVEL ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION (MOHS), THE NATIONAL EBOLA RESPONSE CENTRE (NERC), THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION, DFID, THE UK EBOLA ENVOY, AND SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL, THE AGENCY CONTRACTED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE CLINICAL SERVICES AT THE 80 BED CENTRE.
THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION IS PLEASED TO INFORM THE PUBLIC THAT THESE CONSULTATIONS HAVE BEEN VERY CONSTRUCTIVE. ALL PARTIES ACKNOWLEDGED THE CONCERNS OF THE PUBLIC AND ARE COMMITTED TO ADDRESSING THEM.
IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE, THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN AGREED UPON REGARDING THE KERRY TOWN EBOLA TREATMENT CENTRE:
1.THAT INFECTED HEALTH WORKERS FROM NON-UK SUPPORTED FACILITIES WOULD BE ADMITTED TO THE SPECIAL 12-20 BED TREATMENT UNIT.
2.THAT THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION AND DFID ARE WORKING WITH SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL TO SCALE UP ADMISSIONS TO FULL CAPACITY WITHIN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME
THE MINISTRY VIEW THESE DEVELOPMENTS AS A SIGNIFICANT BREAKTHROUGH IN PROTECTING PUBLIC INTEREST AND URGE THE PUBLIC TO CONSIDER THE ABOVE UNDERTAKINGS BY ALL PARTIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION THAT EXISTS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE.
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND SANITATION CONTINUES TO APPRECIATE THE INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS OUR DOCTORS AND NURSES AND OTHER FRONT LINE WORKERS CONTINUE TO MAKE IN THESE TRYING TIMES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST EBOLA. AS SUCH THE GOVERNMENT RENEWS ITS UNFLINCHING COMMITMENT TO ALWAYS CATER FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THESE FRONT LINE WORKERS.
JONATHAN ABASS KAMARA
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SANITATION
DATED: 1ST DECEMBER, 2014