The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has released more than 250,000 Swiss francs (US$ 212,000, euro 162,000) to support the Angola Red Cross (CVA) as it responds to the outbreak of the highly contagious Marburg haemorrhagic fever which has so far claimed almost 250 lives, most of them in the northern province of Uige.
The International Federation has allocated the money from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to help the CVA in providing assistance to around 100,000 people, as well as material assistance and psychological support to families of those who have died. It seeks to recruit and train more volunteers to provide social mobilization in response to the crisis.
This latest move follows a visit to the affected region by an International Federation technical assessment team, who also met key partners in the response to the outbreak, including local health authorities, teams from United Nations specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations and community leaders to coordinate activities.
On 5 April, the International Federation provided 65,000 Swiss francs to support CVA volunteers, who were assisting the Ministry of Health in carrying out social mobilisation in the affected communities.
“Already more than 45 Angola Red Cross volunteers are doing essential work to raise awareness about the disease, going door-to-door or giving talks in public places. Given the mood of fear and confusion among the local population, there is a real need to step up this kind of activity, to sensitize the population about the disease and about how to behave with sick people and how to bury the dead in a way that avoids contamination,” said Dr. Guy Zimmerman, who led the International Federation’s assessment team. “The most effective way of beating this disease is education.”
The team also expressed concerns that many people could be hiding sick relatives due to fears that most of those who had gone to hospital had died. “The major emphasis is shifting to traditional healers as people appear to have lost faith in the hospital. Tracking contacts will clearly become complicated for the health authorities unless there is a massive health education campaign in the affected communities and surrounding areas,” said Ms Tamuka Chitemere, the Federation’s technical manager for Disaster Management in southern Africa.
According to the latest information, there have been 266 cases of Marburg registered of which 244 have been fatal. Some 253 cases, and 233 deaths, have been in Uige. Cases have been registered in four other provinces, all of them originating in Uige. Meanwhile, neighbouring countries have placed their health services on high alert.