Act now on cross-border disease threat, says TRCS

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) has called for increased public education in Kagera Region in order to prevent disease outbreaks, saying the region’s geographical location makes it susceptible to disease admittance.

Kagera Region is located to the extreme northwest of Lake Victoria, bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

TRCS made the call following Tanzania’s recent success in fighting the deadly Marburg Virus Disease (MVD), which the country declared on June 2, 2023.

“We have officially ended the Marburg outbreak in Kagera Region. Therefore, Kagera is Marburg-free, Tanzania is Marburg-free, Bukoba is safe, Kagera is safe and Tanzania is safe. Together with our partners, we did it,” Health minister Ummy Uwalimu was quoted saying.

But TRCS says Kagera’s geographical location makes it vulnerable to the entry of diseases from other countries and the provision of preventive education to citizens should continue despite the Marburg campaign success.

TRCS Marburg project manager Heri Issa told journalists recently that engagement in fighting the killer disease has enabled society to gather enough experience, especially on the importance of stakeholders’ participation.

“Kagera borders several East African Community (EAC) member countries, which means a higher level of interaction among people in the region. This makes the region vulnerable to outbreaks of new epidemics,” he said.

According to him, Tanzania is supposed to increase provision of education on disease prevention in order to minimise the possibility of disease finding they way into Tanzania through Kagera and spreading to other parts of the country.

Mr Issa added that TRCS has received sufficient cooperation from residents during the implementation of the MVD operation in which the society focused on the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene.

Other areas are community involvement and monitoring those who contracted the disease, their progress and recovery.

The MVD outbreak in Kagera was declared in March this year, with a total of nine cases recorded in the region. Six people died from the disease.

Mr Issa said TRCS learnt that the country was prepared to cooperate with people following reports of an Ebola outbreak in a neighbouring country which required Tanzania to scale-up preparations.

“We have also learnt that in the past it was the Ministry of Health obligation to deal with disease outbreaks. But, currently different ministries, private stakeholders and individual citizens jointly cooperate in the eradication of disease,” he said.

He said likewise, scientific evidence increased confidence in the community and made it easy in intensifying the war, adding that every stakeholder was respected based on their areas of expertise.

For his part, the region’s health promoter, Mr Ruta Kaijage, called on the public to continue taking precautions the same they have been doing in the case of Covid-19 by making it part of their lives.

"The government, stakeholders and citizens should be reminded on the need for sustainable prevention and precautionary measures,” he said.