Democratic Alliance press statement by Dr Wilmot James MP DA Shadow Minister of Health Free State and Limpopo not ready for Ebola I will write to the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, to request an urgent meeting with him to discuss possible mechanisms which provincial health departments can share and exchange their knowledge and resources with regards to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and training programmes in dealing with the threat of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in our provinces. Recently the Democratic Alliance conducted oversight visits across the country to scrutinize and assess the state-of-readiness to deal with EVD in the unlikely event that an individual is infected and needs to be treated at one of the eleven hospitals designated by Minister Motsoaledi last month. It is of extreme concern that we discovered the Pelanomi Hospital in Bloemfontein in the Free State and the Polokwane Hospital in Limpopo is not EVD ready. Some of the major concerns noted at both hospitals were the lack of SOPs and know-how despite the national guidelines the Department of Health circulated, and more importantly structural issues that need to be addressed such as: - health professionals that need to dress and decontaminate in a room having a separate entrance into and out of the designated EVD wards; - reliable supplies of the full repetoire of personal protection gear and consumables; - isolation units, tents appropriate medical equipment and support services;and - not one but many protocols for dealing with women who may be pregnant, children/youth and someone who requires surgery. With the exchange of knowledge and proper training programmes in place, best practice institutions such as Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape is ready to assist hospitals and health professionals in other provinces to learn about their comprehensive SOP in place to deal with EVD. The Minister would do well to allow for channels between provincial health departments to assist one another especially in this time where our efforts should be united to tackle the Ebola crisis together. We call on government to be as vigilant as possible to ensure that South Africa remains Ebola-free
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 09:29:33 +0000