Luanda — The deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbeak in Angola has finally been consigned to history after claiming 227 lives, but the country handled the crisis "very well" and was now in a stronger position to face any future epidemic, according to the deputy health minister.
Jose Van Dunem told IRIN on Wednesday that he was "very relieved" to see the back of the Ebola-like virus in Angola, which the ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared over on 7 November.
He said he was proud of the way the southern African nation, whose health structure was virtually destroyed during 27 years of civil war, had rallied to cope with the killer bug, for which there is no known cure.
"We handled this outbreak very well, and with a very transparent approach," he commented.
Angola's hospitals and health posts are woefully short on resources, and even the country's president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, admitted in a recent speech that with only one doctor for every 10,000 inhabitants there was much room for improvement.
The health system was totally unprepared for the Marburg epidemic, which exposed gaping holes in hygiene practices in both medical institutions and the general population.
"For sure, hygiene practices are now much improved," Van Dunem said. "Everyone now knows how important it is to wash hands and boil water."
While saddened by the deaths caused by the disease, which was centred in the remote northern province of Uige, Van Dunem applauded the teamwork and strong partnerships it created.
"One of the most important lessons learnt was that we must always act as a team; that it is vital to create a well-trained team that performs well and can achieve results," he noted. "We did this, and I believe we would be ready to face any new outbreak."
Van Dunem said the health ministry, WHO, the Atlanta-based Centres for Disease Control (CDC), NGOs such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and the military all pulled together to curb the spread of Marburg.
"We had meetings here every day - including weekends - where everyone involved met and exchanged information and decided on the next step," he said.
He is convinced that the teamwork, which also included churches, women's groups and the media, played a crucial role in curtailing the disease by conveying life-saving messages to an increasingly nervous population.
Explaining the transmission of Marburg, which is communicated via body fluids including saliva, tears and blood, was a difficult task fraught with emotion, particularly in a culture where embracing a dead loved one is the norm.
"I am particularly pleased that we managed to change the cultural and traditional behaviour of the population - that was very important," Van Dunem observed.
The relationships and good practice set up during the crisis could have knock-on benefits for the health system as a whole.
Indeed, the Angolan armed forces (FAA), who spent the last few decades fighting but have recently been praised for their assistance in helping doctors and medical equipment reach remote areas during the Marburg crisis, said they wanted to continue the spirit of teamwork.
In a joint statement with the WHO, the FAA said they were ready to cooperate in the organisation and management of health services, putting military expertise to good use in supporting activities such as collecting data on health and helping to fight malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Van Dunem conceded that such collaboration was the way forward.
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"As a nation we must use all available strategies to improve our health sector. The army can be valuable in terms of its technical means," he pointed out. "We learnt a lot during the Marburg outbreak and now we must use this opportunity to reinforce our performance and our capacity at a general level."
Angola's Marburg outbreak began in Uige in October last year, but poor access to the remote province meant it was not formally identified until March 2005. The last confirmed case was reported on 27 July, but the delay in the official announcement was partly due to the need to re-verify and reconcile the database.
The number of cases was revised downwards from 274 to 252, and the death toll was lowered from 252 to 227, but the outbreak still represents the worst Marburg epidemic ever, surpassing the total of 123 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2000.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
