Mauritania’s new emergency response groups clear first hurdle

Nouakchott – In late August 2022 Mauritania’s well being authorities obtained experiences of a number of circumstances of miscarriage amongst camel herds within the southern Boutilimit Valley area. Inside lower than 24 hours, three emergency groups had been dispatched to reply to the alert.

“These sorts of occasions could point out that there’s a potential danger of a Rift Valley Fever outbreak,” says Dr Abbad El Moctar Mohamed, a public well being knowledgeable and epidemiologist with the Ministry of Well being. “We needed to act shortly to keep away from the emergence of epidemics whose fast results and penalties are very severe for our populations’ well being.”

Up to now it might take greater than per week to ship groups to the sphere, which undermined outbreak management.

The emergency deployment was the primary for Mauritania’s newly-trained groups underneath the SURGE programme led by the World Well being Group (WHO) Reginal Workplace for Africa to help nation well being emergency response. The programme goals to strengthen nationwide buildings to mitigate crises extra successfully, restrict disruptions to key well being companies, reduce financial and social impacts and assist bolster well being safety, significantly in fragile contexts.

Fifty consultants from Mauritania’s ministries of well being, livestock, surroundings and defence had been educated in numerous points of emergency well being response. Comparable trainings have additionally been held in Botswana, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.

“The simulation workout routines occurred in three well being amenities to show the groups to completely different environments and contexts in each city and semi-rural areas,” says Dr Luigino Minikulu Mpia, WHO SURGE mission in Mauritania. “This was very helpful, as their preliminary experiences from the primary real-world deployment allowed ministerial authorities to formally notify WHO of the index case of the present Rift Valley Fever outbreak and make choices on additional public well being actions.”

The well timed notification by Mauritania’s well being authorities in regards to the alert from the nation’s south enabled WHO to help the deployment of different emergency response groups and to coordinate cross-border actions with neighbouring Senegal and Mali.

Upon affirmation of Rift Valley Fever, three groups every comprising a discipline epidemiologist, an emergency doctor and a biologist launched investigations to search out any suspected circumstances and perform assessments. The groups had been in a position to enhance on detection and reporting methods and the routing of blood samples. Additionally they saved native well being authorities knowledgeable of the scenario and labored with the regional governor to boost public consciousness of the significance of illness prevention and management.

“The SURGE staff arrived the day after notification of suspected circumstances of viral haemorrhagic fever,” remembers Dr Mohamed Ahmed, Hodh Ech Chargui’s regional well being director.

The staff educated six well being employees in scientific care and an infection prevention and management measures in hospitals.

“Since then,” says Dr Ahmed, “we’ve got had higher outcomes by way of bettering affected person care and case administration.”

In a single week of deployment, the Mauritanian SURGE staff additionally recorded 532 circumstances of diarrhoea, 477 circumstances of fever, six circumstances of malaria and three COVID-19 circumstances.

“The coaching of the SURGE groups has been very helpful as a result of we’ve got been in a position to reply to regional groups’ questions and considerations, from the chief doctor to hospital practitioners, blood financial institution managers and pharmacists,” says public well being knowledgeable Dr Mohamed. “We had been additionally in a position to develop a response plan for major buildings and the Regional Directorate of Well being, in addition to a affected person care plan for hospitals.”

The primary mission additionally highlighted some shortcomings, such because the scarcity of blood wanted for transfusions, inadequate capability for intensive care items in hospitals, a scarcity of epidemiological databases, and shortages of medical oxygen.

Since that first deployment, seven extra emergency missions have taken place. Mauritania has additionally reviewed its response plan for viral haemorrhagic fevers. Coaching in any respect ranges in intensive care and resuscitation has been organized all through the nation, with the help of consultants from WHO Africa and the French Intensive Care Society. As well as, the nation is advocating with companions for the decentralization of blood banks and the development of recent oxygen manufacturing items.

Three months after the primary deployment, the Rift Valley Fever outbreak seems to be secure. No case has been reported since 21 November 2022. A complete of 52 circumstances 23 deaths have been reported within the outbreak.

The final outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Mauritania in September and October 2020 brought on 25 deaths out of 78 confirmed circumstances.