{UAH} GREED & THE EVIL DISCIPLES OF THE CORONA VIRUS.

Photos: Nigeria is reported to have dedicated an entire stadium fully equipped with brand new beds and modern quarantine intensive care facilities for the fight against the Corvid-19 pandemic. A measure that can be replicated across the major cities in the country.

I bought some surgical facemasks about a month ago when nobody in Uganda was even remotely interested in them. The whole box containing 50 facemasks cost me only Ushs7000 Shillings (about 2 dollars). Today each individual facemask in that box now costs Ushs7000 Shillings (from just 150 shillings each a month ago).

If there was ever any indication of an endless pit of greed, it is the story about surgical face masks in Uganda.

The local business/pharmaceutical/medical industry has to join in the fight against the Corona virus rather than help the spread of the virus through totally diabolic profiteering.

Imagine that the box that I bought for only 7000 shillings just three weeks ago, is now at 350,000 shillings?

How?

In a time of a global pandemic where people are dying in their thousands around the world, and others already suffering from hunger here because of rightful closure of economic activity, such profiteering behaviour is criminal.

The other issue that I am completely disgusted about is the official state quarantine facilities. For a country that prides itself on having dealt with the ebola virus successfully, I wonder if that success had anything do with the public health services, or are we simply failing to give credit to the international support even when we are so clearly incompetent?

Living conditions in the quarantine centers as being shown in social media videos, are likely to be beneficial to the spread of the corona virus rather than help contain it. If these unhygienic and inhumane conditions are what is happening at the onset of our national pandemic, what will the situation be like if/when infection rates start picking up, and/or deaths start occurring here?

If those responsible do not know what to do in such circumstances, or how to do it, they should just say so, seek help, and step aside. A government does not operate like the administration of Owino market, Kikuubo, or Kiyembe lane while pretending to be better than everyone. Governments establish realistic, evidence-based minimum standards that serve urgent public health policy purposes.

I would also like to make a simple suggestion to the Banking sector and the captains of industry/ business community. Instead of pestering the government for compensation of loss of business from the lockdown like the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda was recently reportedly doing, this is the time for big business owners, banks and Foreign Direct investors to show patriotism and a heart for this country.

Join the people of Uganda and their government health services in our national battle against the deadly corona virus (a.k.a Corvid-19).

I am seeing humble individuals trying to help communities while the banks and big industries are mysteriously quiet.

Let us first agree that compared to what the rich countries are doing for their citizens in terms of health services during the crisis, it is clear that our comparatively poor nation is going to be completely overwhelmed. In fact it appears that besides locking patients in a room, nobody here even knows what else to do about suspect cases, and quarantine candidates are just abandoned to themselves even inside hospitals and health centers.

Remember that Corvid-19 has no cure. So even our best health workers, nurses and doctors are just looking at them as if just waiting for them to die.

That cannot be how public services operate. That cannot be the values of a nation.

While I understand the economic upheavals already faced by all sectors, it is time to be pro-active.

From my understanding of the pandemic and the difficulties that I see being faced by government health services, there are at least two technical area's where they clearly need urgent support but have simply failed to simply say 'Help!"

These are key areas if they are to ever going to contain or minimize the spread of the disease:

1 - The country urgently needs at least 500,000 Quick Home Test Kits: The corona virus 15 minute home test kit is a simple technology that I have been relentlessly advocating for. It is similar to the home pregnancy test for women. If this rapid corona virus home test kit is made widely available, it will greatly increase the nations capacity to detect cases of the pandemic very fast on site anywhere in the country, and help the health professionals take immediate action (for example quickly putting corona virus patients out of public circulation so that they immediately stop contaminating other members of the public and their own families. Currently Uganda government has only one testing laboratory (Uganda Virus Research Institute - Entebbe) serving the entire country. And samples have to travel long distances (an average 200 kms) then wait 48 hours for results. Mind you a patient in Adjumani for example, will first need the Adjumani health worker to assess the sickness by mere sight, and then take a swab sample, then call Entebbe, then finally send the sample on the next available Postbus if any. This while other district health centers & regional hospitals around the country are also sending suspect samples as well.

Obviously the Entebbe test facility is already completely overwhelmed but isn't saying so to the public.

Yet the new Quick home testing kits can do the same test in just 15 minutes on site from any home, health center or hospital anywhere in the country once they all have the rapid home kits. For the record, the technology is already in production abroad and it doesn't even need professionals to do the test (anyone can do it for themselves if they have the kit). As the World health Organization said recently, the reason why we in Africa are not seeing alarming numbers yet is not because the sick are not there, but rather because we are not having a quick and robust infection testing capability that can help ensure quick detection and isolation of the sick. This means we are likely to have undetected sick people going around society, and we might only start detecting them when people start collapsing in our streets from corona virus infection as was the case in China at the beginning of the pandemic.

If nothing is done fast in regards to rapid test kits, Africa is most likely to see such room and gloom in it's cities as well.

2 - The government does not have any specialized regional quarantine health facilities for the corona virus pandemic. The Corona virus response probably needs to establish at least 10 field quarantine centers in the countries top 10 population centers by region. These specialized health camps can be akin to the tent facilities established during the ebola outbreaks in Congo, Uganda and West Africa. Organizations like Medecins Sans Frontiére (Doctors Without Borders) already have extensive experience of setting up and running such facilities together with governments. The business community can work together with them, the government and/or any similarly experienced NGO to establish the needs and prepare an adequate response that actually helps defeat the virus, rather than just sitting their listening to tin-pot talk about defeating the virus when the reality shows serious inconsistencies and outright abuses taking place. 

The 3rd proposal I intended to make involves the private sector being prepared to purchase the corona virus cure & vaccine for the local market but those are still being researched overseas.

Therefore I call on the business community (possibly under the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda) to come together to serve the country and it's people rather than complain about business losses at this time when everyone is loosing anyway, including the poorest of the poor.

A pandemic that is nobody's fault here. Not even the governments. And the vast majority of ordinary Ugandans will have nothing to eat, let alone get any compensation for losses incurred by the closure of their daily informal income activities. So lets kindly do a really meaningful and impactful gesture that will help quickly bring normalcy to the country and the economy.

Personally I have been in touch with two different companies producing the 15-minute quick home test kit. One in the US and another in Asia.

The American company informed me yesterday that they have received too many orders beyond their capacity and have therefore stopped taking any new orders until they have delivered all the pre-existing orders.

However both companies confirmed that they have not received any orders or even just a simple query from the government of Uganda.

This is disturbing when the country is faced with such grave danger as a deadly pandemic.

From the record, there are at least 10 other companies around the world that are each producing their own 15-30 minute rapid home test kit.

And while there are many things one can do to help, there are some things that are more strategic and more helpful than others.

The rapid test kit, protective gear and field quarantine camps are such critical, important items.

They are important because they tackle the spread of the disease itself and therefore will help everyone return to their hustle soonest, and the economy rebooted again earliest.

Again I call on all business leaders and captains of industry to join hands to give back to the community.

Together, we can all combine resources to achieve a meaningful act of compassion for the country and offer Uganda a better chance for a bright future ahead in the quickest time possible.

Please feel free to contact me if/when you decide to be pro-active.

This is a time to put aside all our useless political squabbles, differences and individual needs, in order to come and be counted as part of all those patriots who stand for the common good.

In that light we need unity.

I also therefore call on the countries in the region and on this continent to communicate and coordinate. There is surely much more we can each learn from one another. And a common concerted effort between African countries will be far more effective in containing the pandemic rather than have each nation grappling with the disease alone in their own corner as is mostly the case today.

Again a special thanks to all those who are already doing incredible work to help the country contain the disease and thereby save the lives of the people of this country. We all have to follow their moral example and each one of us has to make their contribution.

For the record, even just staying at home is a huge sacrifice and contribution in fighting the spread of the disease.

Thank You & God Bless this country.

Signed: Mr. Hussein Lumumba Amin.

Date: Monday 30th March 2020

Kampala, Uganda.

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