Chinese Centre for Disease Control (CDC), a team of medical experts working in Sierra Leone since the outbreak of Ebola last year, seems to be tightening its strategies against the deadly disease in the country.
At a meeting to discuss new plans and approaches on how to give the disease a final kick out of the country, the CDC head, Dr. Yin Zundong, singled out reviewing of the Ebola surveillance system in communities like Kossoh Town, Jui and Grafton in outer Freetown as the most effective method of tackling Ebola.
He explained that the purpose of the meeting was to review, analyze and discuss the current situation of Ebola surveillance and response in the Western Area.
Since the first batch of Chinese CDC public health team landed in the country last year, Dr. Zundong said, they had been working with the three communities to make them free of the virus. He said the country was now witnessing a considerable decrease in Ebola infections, mainly because of their efforts.
Although he said the fight against Ebola was at its end, the Chinese doctor noted that there were still challenges along the way which, he said, had prompted him to summon the strategic planning meeting with officials of the three communities in the Western Area Rural district. He said they were going to draw up plans for a total eradication of Ebola from the communities and the country as a whole.
Outlining some of their achievements, Dr. Zundong observed that his organization had trained thousands of sierra Leoneans in social mobilization, and the adoption of the ‘bottom-top’ approach in the Ebola fight. That, he added, had contributed considerably in fighting the Ebola virus.
“Since September, last year, we have trained more than 6,000 people all over the country in contact tracing and social mobilization. When we shall have reviewed the surveillance situation, we would also consider specific decisions we can take to win the war,” the CDC head assured.
While applauding the efforts of the Chinese CDC in the Sierra Leone crisis, the Western Area District Medical Officer, Dr. Thomas Takpawu Samba, urged the public to be grateful to the foreigners as he referred to their efforts as “relentless.”
Dr. Samba said the Chinese health officials had sacrificed their lives to help end Ebola in the country and he called on participants to be steadfast and to keep doing the right things so that Ebola could be a thing of the past in the country.
Western Area District Ebola Response Coordinator, Zulainatu Cooper, noted: “had it not been their [the Chinese’s] swift intervention, the Western Area Rural district wouldn’t have done so well in the Ebola fight.”
Due to the CDC’s assistance, she pointed that the district had gone days without any recorded new infection. “Ebola will soon come to an end, but we will want you to talk to your government to help us continue the Agenda for Prosperity,” Cooper appealed to the Chinese.
© Politico 10/04/15
