Will South Sudan Control COVID-19 without Complying with Essential Precautionary Orders?
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Will South Sudan control COVID-19 without senior government officials and citizens complying with the necessary precautionary measures ordered by health officials?
By Francis M. Malwal, Houston, Texas, USA
Sunday, May 24, 2020 (PW) —- The way the Ministry of Health is handling coronavirus is bothering some of us. As the new cases continue to rise sharply within a few days, there are no serious steps taken to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Last week many senior government officials tested positive for COVID -19. Among them is the first vice president of the Republic, who is also deputy chairman of the High- level task force on the pandemic (HLTF) Dr. Riek. Machar and his wife, Madam Angelina Teny, the Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs.
According to Michael Makuei, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, who also tested last week. He says the reasons many senior officials and HLTF got infected is because they have defied social distancing and face mask-wearing during their meeting in the pyramid Hotel.
Although most members of the HLTF were wearing the controversial doctor air’s card, still many of them who had that card caught the virus anyway. The controversial card believes in protecting from coronavirus. This incident has raised many questions regarding the authenticity of such claims. Meanwhile, President Kiir Mayardit was caught in a photo wearing the alleged card.
Moreover, the behavior of government officials is very striking and has raised many concerns. How would the HLTF, whose sole mandate is to contain the spread of the virus, end up violating their restriction orders? They ignored and violated the same law that the judge used to sentence the self-proclaimed prophet Abraham Chol one month in jail.
So instead of showing the people of South Sudan exemplary leadership, they choose not. The officials are above the law. However, they don’t know that coronavirus rules are unlike any rules in south Sudan, where an official can violate statues without any consequences.
Furthermore, in all the countries, the president and official cannot just wear or take anything concerning their Health without proper medical consultation. I don’t know whether they did or not. Still, from what I know, there is no qualified medical professional that would recommend a card that has gone through the standard evaluatory procedures.
On the other hand, the minister of information recommended some unproven herbal medicine that he self-prescribed for COVID-19. If those herbs were good for him, they might not be useful to others. Some people might have other medical conditions contraindicated to the herbs. In other countries, if an unqualified medical professional recommends medicine to any person, if anything happens to the person who follows his recommendation, he will be liable to litigation in the court of law.
Besides, The death toll attributed to coronavirus in South Sudan has reached eight despite underreporting. For example, South Sudan’s death rate (death toll is calculated based on closed cases) is 57 % compared to zero % and 11% in Uganda and Kenya, respectively. Uganda, which reported its first case on March 21, has 193 confirmed cases and zero death as of May 23. Now the Ugandan authorities have bent their curve, while South Sudan cases are sharply rising.
So what could be the cause of the high death rate in South Sudan? It’s unlikely to be a coronavirus since, in a country like the United States, which was significantly hit by COVID-19, the death rate is 18 %. It might be unproven herbs recommended without professional medical consultation. In short, whatever the reasons might be, identifying the cause under such confounding factors is likely to be unsuccessful. Therefore, my advice to the officials and citizens of South Sudan do not take anything without consulting a qualified medical professional.
Eventually, if the officials continue to defy orders, they recommend us to follow, ignoring proven methods to control the spread of the COVID-19. Smilarilary, the citizens followed the steps of government officials. The outcome of this outbreak will be shocking. Therefore, the COVID-19 fight needs a collaborative effort from both parties alike; both government and citizens have more prominent responsibilities to play. The government needs to continue mobilizing resources, providing logistic and political support.
On the other hand, citizens anticipate to honestly adhere and comply with the health authorities’ guidelines and restrictions, things such as maintaining social distancing, avoid gathering, and reporting anyone who has signs and symptoms of COVID-19 to authorities. If each one does it’s responsibilities diligently; then we will win this fight; otherwise, we would lament it.
The author, Francis M. Malwal, B.Pharm. M.Pharm. FPGEC, is a South Sudanese pharmacist based in Houston, Texas, USA. He is the Former Head Department of Pharmacology, University of Juba, College of Medicine, and Chairman of Establishment Committee, African’s National Party. He can be reached via his email: E.mail.francismalwal@gmail.com
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