BLANTYRE (MaraviPost)— The Ministry of Health has received bashing from MCP Dedza East parliamentarian Juliana Lunguzi for only concentrating on screening people for Ebola in airports and disregarding many other small borders.
On Thursday the ministry dispelled rumors of a suspected Ebola case in the administrative capital Lilongwe, which went viral on social media Wednesday.
Addressing a news conference in Lilongwe Thursday morning, health officials assured Malawians not panic over the reports of a suspected Ebola case at a hospital in Lilongwe, claiming it was medically confirmed untrue.
The reports went viral on the social media, mainly facebook prompting the ministry of health to send a fact finding team of medics to assess the situation at the said hospital.
According to Chief of Health Services Dr. Charles Mwansambo, the false alarm was raised by “an irresponsible employee (or student)” at the hospital.
Likewise, Members of the Parliamentary Committee also on Wednesday banged heads to ascertain whether or not Malawi has the capacity to respond to the Ebola virus.
The Committee’s chairperson Juliana Lunguzi said they noted that health authorities are emphasizing the screening at the airports, “but what about our other borders where people are also coming in and going out?”.
Lunguzi, a trained nurse, said they are equally concerned with Ebola virus considering the current shortage of medical supplies in public hospitals.
Meanwhile, global health experts at the World Health Organization are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss new measures to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Meanwhile, global health experts at the World Health Organization are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss new measures to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Over 800 people have been reported dead of Ebola mainly in West Africa with the virus spreading faster than efforts to control it, according to World Health Organization (WHO) leadership, which is currently holding emergency meetings to discuss new measures to tackle Ebola outbreak.
Ebola virus spreads by contact with infected blood and bodily fluids. The current outbreak is killing between 50 percent and 60 percent of people infected.
It causes flu-like symptoms that can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola – but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.
WHO will likely declare the current outbreak a global crisis.
