By Kemo Cham
[First published on www.politicosl.com] Sierra Leone will not shutdown its
borders despite the risk of a spillover of the Ebola virus disease from its
neighbors – Guinea and Liberia, Minister of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), Dr
Abu Bakarr Fofanah, has said. He said last week that border closure was not the
right answer to the existing threat of the epidemic on the three neighboring
countries, citing the economic implications given the cross border trade among
the three countries and their “political brotherhood”.
Fofana also said the Mano River
Union, ECOWAS and African Union protocols do not encourage border closure
because it went against the spirit of bilateral relations.
The minister was speaking during a
visit to the border region with Guinea last week. He was addressing security
and border control officials at the popular border crossing point with Guinea
at Gbalamuya in the northern Kambia District. He said if the advice from health
workers is fully adhered to the risk of transmission of the virus will be
reduced. In this regard he warned against denial and complacency.
The minister’s visit followed the
announcement of stringent measures by the government in response to the latest
flare-up in Guinea and Liberia.
After it was declared free of the
virus in December 2015, Guinea recorded new cases on March 17, the very day
Sierra Leone was declared free of the virus for the second time. Up to last
week, eight people are confirmed to have died in Guinea out of nine cases since
that second cluster, according to WHO and Guinean government figures.
Liberia is also struggling to halt
its third flare-up which has resulted to three cases and one death. A WHO
finding has linked the Guinean outbreak to the Liberian one, even though
Liberia shut its border in response to the Guinean situation.
The Sierra Leone government two
weeks ago ordered the military to deploy in the border with Guinea and
implement stringent entry checks into the country.
A separate team of health experts
from Freetown headed by Chief Medical Officer Dr Brima Kargbo headed for
Kailahun, where a woman displaying symptoms similar to those of Ebola had been
identified.
(C) Politico 13/04/16
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