The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has urged the Ministry of Health to strictly enforce Ebola protocols and strengthen border screening following the death of Kenya’s first confirmed Ebola patient.
KNUN Secretary-General Seth Panyako said the government must ensure that World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines are followed to prevent further infections.
“As a union, we understand and appreciate that one case of Ebola in Kenya has been confirmed and that patient has died. Ours is to urge the government of Kenya, the Ministry of Health, to ensure that the protocols set by the WHO in management of Ebola and other outbreaks within this country and the world at large are strictly adhered to,” Panyako said in Kisumu.
He also questioned how the patient travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Uganda to Kenya without being identified as a potential Ebola case.
“For example, if you are coming from DRC Congo and you are at Entebbe Airport, you want to board a flight to Kenya, why the officers at Entebbe border point should have screened this person and knew that he was coming from an area of Ebola? So, that person would have been put under quarantine in Entebbe, not even in Kenya.”
The patient, who had lived in the DRC for seven years, arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on October 3, aboard Jambojet flight 8523. He was taken to Nairobi Hospital, where tests confirmed infection with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, and died on October 5.
The Ministry of Health initially identified 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers, before the number under follow-up rose to 57, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale’s October 7 update.
Panyako urged healthcare workers to remain vigilant, saying those quarantined at Nairobi Hospital had not shown signs of infection at the time of his remarks.
“I'm happy to report that because of the ability of the Kenyan nurses and other healthcare workers to make sure that they protect themselves and others, as we speak today, all health workers who have been put under quarantine at Nairobi Hospital, none of them is showing signs of the infection of Ebola virus.”
On October 12, Duale gazetted regulations outlining measures for screening, reporting suspected cases, testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.
Panyako also urged nurses at Nairobi Hospital and other private health facilities to join KNUN to strengthen representation of their welfare concerns.
“We also want to urge the Nairobi nurses that if you don't join the union, you will not have someone to stand for you,” he said.
He added that the union faced limitations in advocating for nurses at Nairobi Hospital because they were not members.
“When we speak about your welfare in relationship to Ebola, we'll be asked to give facts, which we may not have,” Panyako said.
Panyako urged the government to ensure that screening, surveillance and other control measures were implemented effectively to protect healthcare workers and prevent further transmission.
