Houston, we have a health communication problem

IF ever the public was taken on a wild goose chase, it was during last week’s flood of conflicting reports about a Mtunzini man reportedly being tested for the Ebola virus at Durban’s Addington Hospital.

What was certain was that the Zululander had been working in Sierra Leone and displayed symptoms of fever, diarrhoea and vomiting during the incubation period of 2-21 days following his arrival back home from the West African country.

The lack of transparency and openness from provincial health authorities then gave rise to a string of unconfirmed and conflicting rumours, creating much uncertainty and even panic among some locals.

First, the middle-aged man was reportedly en route to Ngwelezana Hospital, sending panic through the hallways of the hospital before he was eventually intercepted by police and traffic services and diverted to Addington Hospital.

This was followed by another claim that he had walked out of Addington without being tested for the virus. The latest rumour on Friday was that he had never arrived at the hospital in the first place and health authorities had subsequently lost contact with the man.

There has since been no official confirmation that a patient was admitted or even tested for Ebola at the Durban hospital and by Friday the KZN Department of Health remained mum the situation.

Instead, all Ebola queries have been referred to the National Department of Health, from whom no response was received. So the public had to rely on dribs and drabs of information from the media houses, anxious health authorities and fearful nursing staff.

What we do know is that Addington Hospital is the only hospital in the province equipped with a proper isolation unit to treat positive Ebola cases.

However, it is not the media and apprehensive public who should be blamed for widespread speculation and ‘shoddy’ reports as claimed by health authorities.

It is the lack of communication from health authorities themselves that fuelled the alarm.

If this is any indication of how the country would deal with confirmed cases of Ebola, it seriously casts doubt on the preparedness of the health and safety authorities on the ground.

This is cause for alarm.