Friday, October 21, 2022

Uganda's Public Awareness Campaign -- Against Ebola Spread -- Kicks Into High Gear...


As of this morning, Ugandan health authorities are tracking over 1,200 contacts in the current outbreak -- but with at least eight untraced chains of transmission active, this number will surely increase -- and the possibility is still real that major clusters remain completely off the public health map -- in hidden chains of transmission and death.

And so, Uganda will use all means at its disposal to reach the intended audiences, with a message that includes a friendly face. Some replies on Twitter seem non-plussed that a woman of color is in the picture (feeling it is a political ploy) -- but I am certain the thinking is to reduce concern that the whyte Europeans are (once again) running nefarious experiments on people of color, here.

So, it is reasonably likely that Twitter reaches far more local Kassanda-, and Mubende- District Ugandans. . . than any newspaper, and perhaps even more than an AM radio broadcast would here in 2022.

So it is very gratifying to see the Public Health Minister embracing the social media opportunities. Here's her latest, from inside the hot zone, at right -- and below. But in some of the tweets replying to hers, there is obviously still deep skepticism about whether this is simply a corrupt move for international aid. It is not, obviously -- but this sort of distrust was build over a century. . . and is very hard to allay:

. . .In a bid to break misinformation cycles around #EbolaOutbreakUG, and encourage best practices, [we are] sensitizing community members / stakeholders in high-risk areas.

📷▶ A session with traditional healers/herbalists at Lwebyaayi in West Division in #Mubende. . . .

[And earlier:] All contacts to an #Ebola infected patient must stay at home and not mix with any of their family members for 21 days.

The incubation period for the Ebola- Sudan strain is 2-21 days. #EbolaOutbreakUG. . . .


Now you know -- we are only about two weeks away from first dosings with the experimental vaccine candidate from Sabin Institute. So, on to a more hopeful, and brighter, Fall Friday in the steel and glass canyons, splattered at street level with gold and crimson leaf-falls. . . smile.

नमस्ते

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