Masaka health workers shun attending to Ebola contacts  

Members of the Ugandan Medical staff of the Ebola Treatment Unit stand inside the ward in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda on September 24, 2022. PHOTO/AFP

What you need to know:

  • Dr Muhammad Lamorde, an expert on management of infectious diseases from Makerere University, said his team together with officials from Unicef and WHO are camping in Masaka for a week to monitor and prepare response teams.

The Masaka City Ebola taskforce has expressed concern about lack of health volunteers to attend to contacts of the disease in the area.
According to Dr Gonzaga Ssenyondo, the chairperson of the Ebola taskforce in Masaka, most medics they have approached are reluctant to take part in managing the contacts.
“There is limited manpower willing to work because most of the health workers have no experience in Ebola management and they fear contracting the deadly virus,” he said.

Dr Ssenyondo also said since Masaka has recorded only three confirmed Ebola cases, adding that they are facing low-risk perception among residents and many have remained complacent.
“But this may result in the mass spread as communities still think that there are no cases. By the time a patient reaches a stage called wet symptoms after 21 days, most of his /her accomplices are at risk,” he said.

“This is the reason we are appealing to the community to be vigilant and start observing standard operating procedures as soon as possible,” he said.
Dr Ssenyondo was speaking to journalists after the official launch of the Joint Ebola Taskforce in Masaka City on Monday.
The taskforce, which is led by the Masaka Resident City Commissioner, Mr Ronald Katende, comprises Masaka City Mayor Florence Namayanja, all resident district commissioners and their deputies, health officers, both from the city and district, officers-in-charge of all health centres, the Masaka Regional Referral Hospital director and representatives of village health teams both from the city and the district.

Mr Katende said the main reason for forming the joint taskforce is to have a fast response plan to contain the spread of the deadly virus in both the city and the district.
“The official launch of the taskforce has been witnessed by other partners such as World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef), who have already asked us to establish a holding centre for all Ebola contacts,” he said.
 Mr Katende revealed that the city leadership has already identified Masaka Golf Course grounds as one of the green spaces to host the Ebola holding centre.

“We are already engaging the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) to extend water to that site where we plan to put a holding centre,” he added.
 Dr Muhammad Lamorde, an expert on management of infectious diseases from Makerere University, said his team together with officials from Unicef and WHO are camping in Masaka for a week to monitor and prepare response teams.
“We are equipping and facilitating them to fully manage and contain the disease as we have done in Kasanda and Mubende,” he said. 
Three Ebola cases have been recorded and one died. The deceased was a resident of Kabowa in Kampala, who went to Kimaanya, a Masaka City suburb, at the request of her parents after her health deteriorated.