dc.description.abstract |
Background: The current wave of Hemorrhagic fevers currently being witnessed require increased bio-risk
assessment exercises and vigilance at all levels of the healthcare continuum. This article review will outline key
subjects from an agenda-setting, multi-disciplinary panel convened to examine implications for health systems
in Kenya.
Discussion: Researchers‟ personal stories and media debates to define fundamental issues and opportunities for
preparedness focused on three inter-linked subjects. First, the risks of the fear response itself were underlined as
a danger to the reliability and stability of quality care. Second, healthcare workers‟ reservations were
complicated by a demonstrable lack of societal and personal protections for infection prevention and control in
communities and healthcare facilities, as evidenced by an ongoing cholera epidemic affecting over 5,000
patients across Kenya in 2015 alone. Third, a lack of clear messaging and course from leadership have limited
organization and strengthened a level of suspicion in the government‟s ability and obligation to mobilize an
adequate response. Initial recommendations include urgent investment in the needed supplies and infrastructure
for basic, routine infection control in communities and healthcare facilities, provision of assurances with
securities for frontline healthcare workers, establishment of a multi-sector, “all-hazards” outbreak surveillance
system, and engaging directly with key community groups to co-produce contextually relevant educational
messages that will help decrease stigma, fear, and the demoralizing perception that the diseases defy remedy or
control.
Summary: The occurrence of hemorrhagic fevers especially the Ebola outbreak in West Africa provides an
unprecedented opportunity for other countries like Kenya to make progress on tackling long-standing health
systems weaknesses. These discussions emphasized the urgent need to strengthen capacity for infection control,
occupational health and safety, and leadership coordination. Substantial commitment is needed to raise
standards of hygiene in communities and health facilities, build mechanisms for co-operation across sectors, and
engage community stakeholders in creating the needed solutions. It would be both distressing and irresponsible
to waste the opportunity. |
en_US |