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Ouganda : Maintenir la vigilance face à Ebola dans la capitale

Keeping up the vigilance on Ebola in Uganda’s capital

11 Janeiro 2023 | Uganda

Kampala – Even after reporting no new cases for weeks, the Kampala Capital City health authorities did not let down the guard. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, a public awareness campaign was carried out to maintain the population’s vigilance. With support from World Health Organization (WHO), the Central Division authorities worked with more than 1500 community mobilizers and “boda boda” – motor taxi drivers – who went on a door-to-door drive every day to raise awareness, fight rumours and misinformation and ensure that people report any suspected Ebola cases. 

Kampala, home to some 1,5 million people, has registered 18 confirmed cases since Uganda declared an outbreak of the Sudan ebolavirus on 20 September 2022. Robust contract tracing and quick isolation of suspected cases have prevented the virus from spreading in this complex urban environment.
 

It is early in the morning, about 150 community mobilizers gather in the main room of the Nakivubo Blue Primary School, in one of Kampala’s most densely populated neighbourhoods. Today, they will roam the streets of Kisenyi, a vibrant area of the city, to engage and sensitize people about the Ebola outbreak. “Your role is to spread facts. We want to remind people that Ebola is real and still here,” explains Pauline Ajello, WHO risk communication and community engagement officer. Four weeks after the last confirmed Ebola case was reported in the city, many think the outbreak is over. The Kampala health authorities, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and with the support of WHO, set up an intensive awareness campaign to ensure that the public continues to adhere to the preventive measures.

With leaflets and posters, community mobilizers split into small groups and go to an assigned area. Claire Arinaitwe is a Village Health Team member in Kisenyi. She and her team of eight have been briefed on the disease and how to address rumours. “Some people think that Ebola does not exist or are not very much informed because they don’t watch TV or listen to the radio,” she says, as each member of her team takes a share of the communication material to carry.

“We tell people in the community that Ebola kills. We tell them about the signs and symptoms. We tell them how they can avoid it. We tell them what they need to do when they find sick people in the communities,” says Arinaitwe. The robust response mounted by the national and local health authorities has allowed to contain the spread of the virus for now. Paradoxically, it has also given the impression that the disease is not a serious threat, even more after two long years of COVID-19 pandemic.

Arinaitwe and her team stop at Charles Atoba’s shop in a bustling low-income neighbourhood. Passers-by stop to listen to the conversation Arinaitwe is having with the shopkeeper. In Kampala, there is a lot of confusion around Ebola, says Atoba, who admits not being very clear about how Ebola spreads. “We must listen to the people who are teaching us about the disease and we must display their posters in public spaces so that people can read and know what’s going on.”

In addition to the Village Health Teams and social mobilizers, the campaign relies on “boda bodas”. Like bees in a hive, the moto taxi drivers are in every street of the capital city, transporting passengers from district to district. Like during the COVID-19 pandemic, they play a key role in the week-long awareness campaign, driving around with posters on their bikes and distributing leaflets. “Ebola is still here,” says a community mobilizer in a cracking voice through a loudspeaker.

“The World Health Organization gave us the Ministry of Health’s brochures with the phone number that can help us in case we get in contact with someone (with Ebola symptoms). It’s a tollfree number. You call, you explain your concerns and you get help,” says Imam Katongol, a boda boda driver in Kisenyi. Back from a long ride in the neighbourhood, he says: “We as boda boda riders are on the frontline (of exposure to Ebola). We interact with lot of people, we exchange money, some clients are sweating… So we are doing this to ensure that this (Ebola outbreak) is done.”

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