Hunger crisis in Africa

Following the recent surge in Mpox 
infections in Sierra Leone, West Africa, 
the health aid organization of Aktion 
Deutschland Hilft, action medeor, has 
taken measures to help combat the outbreak. 
Together with local partners, the "World's 
Emergency Pharmacy," as action medeor is 
also called, will support more than 40 
hospitals and health centers across the 
country in preventing the virus from 
spreading further.

Highly contagious Mpox variant causes concern
The provision of protective equipment, 
handwashing stations, and disinfectants aims 
to improve infection control measures, 
especially in rural areas of Sierra Leone. 
In addition, radio spots and information 
leaflets will be used to intensify public 
education so that people can take early steps 
to protect themselves against infection.

"The current outbreak of Mpox in Sierra Leone 
is a concern because it is a highly contagious 
variant of the virus that is currently spreading 
rapidly and is impacting a health system in 
Sierra Leone that is still affected by the severe 
Ebola epidemic 10 years ago," explains spokesperson 
for the board of action medeor.

Rural areas in particular need help
Resources for testing and vaccination in the West 
African country are very limited, and rural areas 
lack isolation units and medical facilities to 
treat infected patients. "Supplies of protective 
equipment and the number of disinfection options 
are also very limited in many rural health centers, 
so we are focusing our support on these areas," 
explains spokesperson of action medeor.

One of the hospitals benefiting from this support 
is St. John of God Hospital in Lunsar, a small 
town in western Sierra Leone. Jessica works there 
as a nurse. She still remembers her first case of 
smallpox in May: "Neighbors informed us that a 
family in the village was very sick. When we 
arrived, we found the mother and four of her 
daughters covered in smallpox," Jessica recalls.

"We didn't know if it was Mpox or regular 
chickenpox and we didn't have any tests. So we 
requested some from the neighboring town, but they 
didn't have enough gasoline to deliver them to us. 
In the end, we got the tests ourselves, and after 
three days we knew for sure: the family had 
contracted Mpox," she said.

The measures are working
Since then, the number of infections has increased 
nationwide – but Jessica has also set a lot in motion 
in her community. "Because we have far too few 
isolation beds in the hospital, we've established a 
home visit system where we visit the sick at home and 
they also isolate themselves at home," she reports.

"Families have to play along and isolate the sick from 
the healthy. If that works, we have a good chance of 
containing the outbreak." Activating and educating 
the population is essential for this. "Handwashing, 
disinfection, keeping a distance – that's working very 
well here now," Jessica summarizes.

This was also the case with the family of her first MPox 
case, who followed all hygiene rules. "A good two weeks 
after the positive test result, the mother and her 
daughters were healthy again," says Konoppa, "which 
shows us that the measures are effective." There have 
also been fewer cases of infection in her region in the 
last two weeks. "We have to keep at it," says Jessica, 
"then we will be able to contain the outbreak."

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