How improved hygiene will boost war against Ebola

Dar es Salaam. As the number of deaths and Ebola confirmed cases increases in Uganda, Tanzania has introduced a hygiene intensification campaign aimed at preventing the disease from entering the country.

The campaign was introduced in the business capital of Dar es Salaam and it is expected to be extended to regions bordering the country with Uganda including Kagera, Geita, Mwanza, Kigoma and Mara.

Statistics from the ministry of Health in Uganda shows that as of October 13, 2022, the East African country recorded 19 deaths from 54 cumulative confirmed cases.

Furthermore, official data shows that six new cases had been recorded in the East African country and that 20 people recovered from the contagious disease.

But, during his recent tour of Kagera Region, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu expressed her concern that porous borders accounting to about 1,000 posed a huge threat in the country’s Ebola control strategies.

Therefore, she instructed regional authorities to take precautionary measures in disease prevention, hinting that the government’s eye was in Kagera Region.

“This is done through financial and human resources mobilization to effectively and efficiently prevent the disease from entering the country,” she said.

Ms Mwalimu who was speaking at the Kashenye and Nangoma informal borders said the efforts would also include provision of medical equipment through which three ambulances have been provided.

But recently, WaterAid collaborated with the Dar es Salaam Region in launching the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) campaign aimed to scale up prevention of Ebola and other communicable diseases.

Launching the campaign, the Dar es Salaam regional health officer, Ms Enezael Ayo, said being the business hub, Dar es Salaam hosts visitors from different countries including Uganda.

Also read:Tanzania trains border communities on Ebola prevention

“Therefore, this campaign aims to prevent citizens from infectious diseases including Ebola, Covid-19, diarrhoea, cholera and several others,” she said.

She said government instructions issued by the ministry of Health and the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) on Ebola prevention have been conveyed to councils for implementation.

“The councils are obliged to implement through education provision and ensure the campaign is sensitized in other places of the region,” she said.

According to her, the campaign aims to ensure that healthcare centres and public offices are equipped with hand washing equipment and soap in order to restore the spirit recorded at the climax of Covid-19 pandemic.

“The strategy aims to ensure every household, healthcare centres, public and private institutions have hand washing equipment and soap,” she said.

WaterAid communications and campaigns officer Neema Kimaro said the campaign has been launched ahead of the Global Hand Washing Day celebrated every October 15.

“We are communicating to the Ministry of Health on how this campaign will be extended to Great Lake regions to supplement the government’s Ebola prevention initiatives through increasing hygiene,” she said.

“Although the war against Covid-19 isn’t over, our effort to prevent the community from the Ebola outbreak that has been reported in Uganda cannot be underestimated,” she added.

The Mwanyamala Hospital acting medical officer, Dr Aileen Barongo, said the Ebola outbreak in Uganda has forced the hospital to scale up a hand washing campaign that has deteriorated in recent days.