Freetown/Sierra Leone – It came about in seconds. The doors of the health facility flew initiate. A young man changed into once rushed in, barely breathing, his family screaming at the support of him. Blood changed into once everywhere, on the flooring, his clothes, the hands of those attempting to common him. And with out hesitation, the health workers moved towards him instinctively. There were no questions asked, no moments wasted, honest an instinctive inch to save a lifestyles, guided by their coaching and dedication.
Later, we realized it changed into once a suicide strive. He had ingested rat poison. But in that distinguished second, nothing else mattered to the health workers stopping to stabilize him. There changed into once no time to quiz questions, assess risks, or consider of their have safety.
As I stood there, staring at, one opinion wouldn’t leave me: What if this had been something else? What if the blood, later stumbled on to be palm oil, carried something extra? What if the man changed into once unknowingly contaminated with mpox, or another infectious illness spreading quietly thru communities?
That is the day after day fact faced by health workers across Sierra Leone. Thowdy are the first to respond, the first to construct contact, and the first to save themselves at possibility, continuously with out vivid what risks they would perhaps stumble on. When hesitation would perhaps even result in demise, their intuition to save lives overrides every concern. They are the backbone of our health machine, but they remain dangerously uncovered.
But who ensures their safety? In Sierra Leone, mpox isn’t very a distant possibility. Since the first case changed into once reported earlier this 12 months, the virus has spread to all 16 districts. Hundreds had been contaminated. Health workers are on the frontlines, not only caring for known instances, nevertheless continuously unknowingly uncovered to sufferers who would perhaps even not but demonstrate indicators.
Mpox can spread thru shut pores and skin to pores and skin contact, bodily fluids, blood. The very acts of care, cleaning wounds, turning in infants, offering urgent therapy lift colossal risks.
Dr. James Squire, the National Incident Supervisor, summed it up clearly: “Our health workers are our most attention-grabbing asset. If we lose them, we lose the whole lot.”
We now contain lived this before, and the painful memory tranquil lingers. In the direction of the Ebola crisis, several health workers died. The loss changed into once catastrophic, not honest for households and communities, nevertheless for the total health machine that changed into once already so fragile. We cannot afford to permit historical previous to repeat itself.
This time, now we contain a utility, we didn’t contain then: vaccines. In a exceptional demonstrate of cohesion, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a nation accustomed to the challenges of mpox and Ebola outbreaks prolonged a helping hand. With the coordination and support of the World Health Organization (WHO), the DRC generously donated 75,000 doses of mpox vaccine to Sierra Leone.
Fatmata, a health worker at a district clinical institution, expressed it poignantly: “We inch into effort with out hesitation. But at the identical time, now we contain cherished ones ready for us support home. We contain to continue serving, nevertheless we additionally contain to feel bag.”
When health workers are vaccinated, total communities are safer. Economies thrive. And outbreaks are contained before they spiral. The ripple conclude of protecting one health worker reaches a ways beyond the four walls of a health facility.
Now is the second. Every health worker in Sierra Leone – nurse, doctor, cleaner, ambulance driver, laboratory technician – will contain to tranquil be vaccinated. No one who steps precise into a enlighten of care will contain to tranquil be left unprotected.
Dr George Ameh, WHO Consultant in Sierra Leone, emphasized: “We are at a turning point. The vaccines contain arrived. Now we should act. Every health worker vaccinated is one pillar strengthening the total health machine. That is one of the tools now we contain to conclude the outbreak.”
The health workers who rushed toward that affected person didn’t conclude to quiz whether it changed into once bag. They acted because that’s what they conclude. They demonstrate up, each day, in every crisis. But displaying up will contain to tranquil not mark them their lives. This time, now we contain an alternate to protect them before they pay that mark.
In addition to pre-exposure vaccination against mpox and post exposure management, heath workers and all frontline workers will contain to tranquil constantly ogle strict infection prevention and control procedures and use personal protective tools (PPEs) when dealing with suspected and confirmed sufferers.
