By Prisca Oroma
As Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo battle to contain the Ebola outbreak, cultural leaders have been urged to join the fight against the disease.
Speaking during a sensitization meeting recently, Dr. Amos Nyathirombo, the Minister of Health, Alur Kingdom, said that cultural institutions have a unique reach into communities where formal messages and government directives are often difficult to implement.
He said cultural leaders have easy access to communities and that people trust them more than health workers, who sometimes meet hostility from the people, making it difficult to pass on health messages.
“Cultural leaders are the only ones who can change cultural practices, and in this case, practices that influence the spread of Ebola,” he added.
He said cultural leaders can help safely modify cultural norms, like traditional burials, to prevent the spread of the disease while respecting community heritage.
“The leaders can also actively work to debunk myths such as attributing hemorrhagic symptoms to witchcraft or poisoning, and encourage families to seek early medical intervention,” he added.
Meanwhile, Harriet Thumitho, the Zombu District Health Educator, said that although Uganda has only registered twenty cases, with two deaths and 18 recoveries, the country is still at risk due to multiple porous borders, and there is therefore need for a collective effort to scale up prevention.
She said that as health workers, they have been meeting hostility from some communities, and urged cultural leaders to help spread prevention messages and also to protect and support health workers when they come for community sensitization.
“Prevention is the only way we can fight Ebola, because there is no cure, but early detection can increase chances of survival,” she said.
Jepther Urom, the Speaker of the Chiefs, said that now that they have the information, they are going to spread it, since they have enough platforms through which they interact with the community, and the people also trust them.
Early signs of Ebola include fever, headache, joint pain, sore throat, and fatigue, among others.
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