The facility should treat local patients as well if outbreaks occur in the region, Oyewale Tomori has said
A planned Ebola treatment center in Kenya should be available to all patients in need rather than exclusively serving US citizens, Nigerian professor of virology Oyewale Tomori has told RT.
Addressing reports that Americans infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) could be treated in Kenya, the chairman of the West Africa National Academy of Sciences said he had no concerns about the facility’s ability to safely contain the virus. However, he argued that access to treatment should also extend to Kenyans and others in the region.
“If that center is open, it should be open to everybody, not just Americans,” Tomori said. “If any Kenyan gets any infection, it should be treated in that place.”
Tomori suggested that treating Ebola patients in Kenya rather than the US could be justified by shorter transportation times, allowing patients to receive care more quickly.
Meanwhile, human rights defender Boniface Ogutu Akach told RT that many Kenyans fear the facility would primarily serve foreign interests. He argued that Americans exposed to Ebola should instead be treated in the US, which has greater resources to manage potential outbreaks.
The comments come amid protests over the proposed US Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base near the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki. Despite a Kenyan High Court order halting the project, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous US official, that around 20 flights carrying medical equipment and specialist personnel landed at the base between May 23 and May 31.
The debate comes as DR Congo battles its 17th Ebola outbreak. On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reported 1,077 suspected cases and 246 probable deaths since May 15. The outbreak has been linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments.
