Kampala – Local action has been noted as crucial in preparedness and management of disaster in communities.
Robert Kwesiga, the Secretary General Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) says since disasters start and end in communities, the locals need to be put at the fore because they understand their communities best.
“Foreigners are not going to be at the community level to detect it, raise alarm and manage it, they will come in at a different level,” Kwesiga said on Monday at the opening of a high-level meeting for Red Cross societies in Kampala.
Kwesiga also noted a need for rightful human resources to encounter any pandemic outbreak in the country.
“..We need to invest in the right human resource but at the same time we need to make sure that these human resources are equipped to take charge and that’s when we can manage these pandemics,” he said, adding that these should not be expatriates but locals.
Speaking during the same meeting, Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, the Director Health Services at the Ministry of Health hailed URCS for their collaboration that enabled them to defeat the recent Ebola outbreak in the country within just 69 days.
The two-day meeting is being attended by among others Secretary Generals of Red Cross Societies from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, DRC, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Madagascar, and Comoros.
It is intended to develop a collective road map for cross-border collaboration on epidemic preparedness, identify technical tools and guidelines to facilitate peer-to-peer support, and Develop a National society health technical working group to lead on cross-border collaboration during epidemics.
According to the World Disaster Report, 2022 disasters such as COVID-19 are likely to be on the increase and therefore countries need to prepare more effectively for future public health emergencies.
