KIGALI, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan hospitals on Tuesday started Ebola simulation drills for front-line healthworkers to strengthen their readiness to prevent and manage Ebola in case of any outbreak in the country.
Eight government hospitals in Rwanda will conduct drills, which would offer them a learning experience and ensure their awareness of reactions to people with Ebola symptoms, Rwandan health minister Diane Gashumba told Xinhua in a telephone interview.
The drills will focus on screening, infection prevention and control, safe detection as well as isolation of suspected Ebola cases for hospital staff, said Gashumba.
It's important to train Rwanda's medical practitioners to be able to effectively prevent and control a potential outbreak rather than deal with a response, though no Ebola case has been registered in Rwanda, she said.
The drills started in Gisenyi and Gihundwe Hospitals in Rubavu and Rusizi districts, Western province, and will continue to be conducted in other hospitals countrywide, she added.
Rwandan health ministry on July 15 warned Rwandans against unnecessary travel to Goma, an eastern city of Rwanda's neighboring country Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), following the first confirmed Ebola case there.
The city shares the border with western Rwanda's Rubavu district with daily border crossings between the two countries estimated at about 100,000 people, according to Rwanda's emigration authority.
This week marked one year since the start of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in DRC that has already killed more than 1,700 people, making it the second worst Ebola outbreak in history.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in last week commended Rwanda on its ongoing Ebola preparedness efforts and confirmed that no cases of Ebola have been reported from the central African country.
Rwanda has a detailed National Preparedness Plan in place and is training health workers in early detection and response, educating communities about Ebola, vaccinating health workers in high-risk areas, equipping health facilities, and conducting simulation exercises to maintain a high level of readiness, according to WHO.
It has been screening visitors for Ebola symptoms at points of entry since the beginning of the outbreak in DRC, and has reinforced the screening since the confirmation of the case in Goma, said WHO, adding that people crossing the border have their temperatures checked, wash their hands, and listen to Ebola awareness messages.
An Ebola Treatment Center has been set up in Rwanda and 23 isolation units are being prepared in hospitals in 15 priority districts, according to WHO.
Ebola response simulation exercises have been conducted to test Rwanda's preparedness in response to a case, which will include Emergency Operations Center activation, active surveillance, case management and laboratory testing, and about 3,000 health workers in high-risk areas have been vaccinated as a preventative measure, it said.
