How Local Fistula Training Helped Prevent an Ebola Outbreak in Mali

By The Editorial Team, IntraHealth InternationalMay 23, 2019Investing in local expertise has far-reaching impacts on health. Here ’s a powerful example.When a little girl showed up at the hospital in Kayes, Mali, in 2014 with what seemed to be symptoms of Ebola, no one wanted to touch her. Everyone was scared of becoming infected.But a pharmacist named Jonas Kamat é knew he could help.Kamat é had gone through an infection-prevention training that was part ofIntraHealth International ’s comprehensive fistula care program for the local health team in Kayes. OurFistula Mali team had trained health workers at all levels in the hospital on different aspects of care for women with obstetric fistula, from making them feel welcome in the facility to providing high-quality surgical repair to helping them reintegrate into their communities.She was the only one at our hospital to be infected. It did not spread, thanks to the training.While infections and complications had dropped at the hospital after the training, the staff had never seen anything like this little girl ’s case before. Kamaté knew he had to act.“I did the blood draw and sent it to Bamako,” he says. “It came back positive. The little girl died, but she was the only one at our hospital to be infected. It did not spread, thanks to the training.”We had no idea our work to help women and girls withobstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury, could also help prevent an outbreak of a deadly, highly in...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Capacity Building for Fistula Treatment and Prevention in Mali (Fistula Mali) Ebola Obstetric Fistula Community Engagement Education & Performance International Day to End Fistula Global Health Security Workplace Safety Pharmacists S Source Type: news