Augustine Pepper
The government is standing firm on its Ebola partnership with the US, even as protests mount over the planned Laikipia containment centre Health CS Aden Duale insists the facility will be run by Kenya’s Defence Forces and serve citizens too, not just Americans He says the US is simply aiding Kenya’s preparedness, with KSh 1.7 billion pledged and global partners supplying PPEs and lab reagents to brace for any outbreak The government, through the Ministry of Health, continues to defend its partnership with the United States in containing Ebola despite pushback by Kenyans.
Health CS Aden Duale said the Ebola containment centre in Laikipia will be managed by KDF. Photo: Aden Duale.
Source: Twitter Ever since news emerged that the US had planned, with the approval of the current regime in power, the establishment of a containment centre in Laikipia to assess and treat Americans exposed to Ebola, a good chunk of Kenyans have been up in arms protesting the move, noting it is a breach of sovereignty exposing the country to a disaster.
Reports further suggested that the facility would be ran by US practitioners, and would be exlusive to the Americans only.
But Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale denies the foregoing, explaining that such partnerships exist across the world and hence there should be no cause of alarm.
In an interview on Citizen TV Saturday night, May 30, Duale particularly pointed out that in the event Ebola cases are detected in the country, the facility, like any other in the country, would serve all, Kenyans included.
Contrary to the claims of the facility being US-run, the CS stated that it would be under the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), which he noted has an able and substantive medical wing.
“Even in Congo we have our own soldiers. The Laikipia centre is for everybody. It is the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) that will be manning the facility at Laikipia Airbase. KDF has one of the most robust medical wing led by a major general,” he said. The CS added that the Laikipia centre is among 11 others being established across the country in readiness any detection of Ebola.
According to him, all the establishments will feature facilities for quarantine, isolation and treatment.
Duale explained that the US’s role in the partnership is helping Kenya prepare adequately, dismissing claims of their being underhand engagements and preferential treatment to the US personnel and patients.
“The US government has promised to give the Kenya government KSh 1.7 billion. Just like the support Africa CDC is giving us. Just like what WHO is giving us. There are individual countries who pledge the other night when we were with the president to give us PPEs for Ebola. There are countries that are pledging and they’re talking to their capitals to make sure that they provide the reagents for the laboratories because our labs will work 24 hours. And we are we are we are preparing the country in the event of a large scale outbreak and it is not something you want to politicise. This is a very serious public health threat,” he said. At the same time, Duale said the centre in Laikipia is strategically located, far from settlement areas.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
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