Sierra Leonean and Guinean leaders visit border to reinvigorate Ebola response
Leaders of the two remaining countries battling Ebola, President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone and President Alpha Condé of Guinea, jointly visited the border post between Gbalamuya in Kambia District in Sierra Leone and Pamelap in Forécariah Prefecture in Guinea last Friday, where they urged citizens to contribute more to end Ebola transmission.
At the Ebola mobilization event attended by hundreds of inhabitants of border communities, Presidents Koroma and Condé announced new measures to achieve zero transmission.
They said that the security forces will henceforth enforce Ebola quarantines in the border communities while local authorities will have new powers to implement by-laws without recourse to each country’s capital.
President Condé said that anyone who attacks response workers, particularly health officials, would face prosecution, pleading for all to “please allow response workers to do their jobs.” The Presidents’ tough stance is in the wake of a recent mob attack on healthcare workers in Kamsar city, Guinea.
The Guinean leader also warned that hospitals that do not follow approved Ebola procedures risk being shut down and that punitive measures would be taken against people who hide the sick or move bodies.
Both Presidents requested local, traditional, youth, religious, women, and other influential key populations to mobilize their respective communities to end transmission.
President Koroma washes hands at the border
Speaking in Susu, President Condé told the cheering crowd that he would like his next meeting with President Koroma to be an occasion to celebrate victory. “We want to do other things; we want to bring happiness and development to you the people,” reinforced President Koroma.
The Presidents underscored the devastating impact of Ebola on families, economies and culture. “Our economies are down, people are dying,” said President Condé, also noting that women have borne the brunt of the virus.
President Koroma urged people to “put aside, for the time being, traditional habits such as washing of corpses before burial until we defeat Ebola.”
The leaders’ border visit was to inject fresh momentum into efforts to rid that region of Ebola. Kambia and Forécariah have continued to record new cases for some time, and many cases in other parts of the countries have also been traced to the border region. Health experts believe that containing the virus in the region could boost hopes of achieving a sustained zero transmission in both countries.
The event was attended by the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Peter Graaff; the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr. David Nabarro; WHO Assistant Director-General Dr. Bruce Aylward; members of the Global Ebola Response Coalition, including UNICEF, WFP and IFRC; top government officials from both Sierra Leone and Guinea; UN personnel; and members of the diplomatic community.
Mr. Graaff said that Sierra Leone and Liberia have made tremendous progress, particularly in cross-border collaboration, which was already bearing fruits.
Community ownership is the key to ending the virus, maintained Mr. Graaff: “Communities are our frontline workers in the Ebola fight…If we all mobilize our efforts, everything is possible.”
Those living in border communities share sociocultural affinity, prompting the Mano River Union, a sub-regional political grouping comprising Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, to propose a regional approach to tackling the virus.
The MRU technical committee developed a framework for collaboration in January, which was followed by a meeting of the MRU Heads of State in mid-February to adopt strategies to end Ebola. On 23 March, the Presidents of Sierra Leone and Guinea signed a Memorandum of Understanding to implement Ebola measures in Forécariah and Kambia.
Under the MOU, there will be a national-level supervision of cross-border Ebola interventions, knowledge-sharing, adopting and adapting best practices, and a focus on community ownership.
Kingsley Ighobor, UNMEER
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