News / Health
Zim Ebola fight better than West Africa, says US expert
28 Oct 2014 at 06:10hrs | Views
THE United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Zimbabwe country director, Dr Peter Kilmarx yesterday revealed that Zimbabwe was prepared to deal with Ebola if it emerged than some countries in West Africa.
Kilmarx was in Sierra Leone for the past month leading a CDC team on the Ebola response and work with the Sierra Leone government and other partners to try and contain the Ebola epidemic.
"We complement efforts in response to Ebola in Zimbabwe because at the baseline there is much better health systems already in place in terms of the Ministry of Health and Child Care mandate," he was quoted as saying in today's Herald.
"The health information systems, the laboratory quality as well as the communication and transportation systems have improved. Even the capacity of work Zimbabweans did when they handled the Ebola scare at Wilkins is commendable. I think Zimbabwe will be much better prepared for any new health threat, including Ebola than the case in West Africa."
Dr Kilmarx commended Zimbabwe for the co-operation in the fight against Ebola by allowing people to travel to West Africa.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care received Ebola equipment, drugs and sundries from the National Healthcare Trust of Zimbabwe yesterday to strengthen the prevention and preparedness drive for Ebola.
The US ironically imposed and maintains a ruinous economic sanctions regime on Zimbabwe that curtailed Government's capacity to fund the social services sector.
Source - Herald