Kenya to establish cost of Ebola response after expensive quarantine exercise

Duale disclosed that the US government had committed approximately 14.5 million dollars towards the response, although the funding was channelled through implementing partners rather than directly to the Ministry of Health. [File Standard]

The Ministry of Health will establish the cost of managing Kenya's Ebola outbreak as part of a review of the country's response, with officials acknowledging that treating patients and keeping contacts in quarantine placed a significant financial burden on the country.

Director-General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth said the exercise would determine the cost of managing individual Ebola cases and quarantining exposed contacts, including those accommodated in hotels during the outbreak.

Speaking during a press briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday, Amoth said the management of Ebola patients was particularly expensive, with some contacts spending more than 30 days in quarantine.

“Management of Ebola cases is very, very expensive. I also remember that people were in quarantine for more than 30 days every day. Some of them were in quarantine in a hotel facility,” he said.

He said the Ministry would examine the expenditure as part of its planned after-action review to establish the cost of managing patients and contacts, with the findings expected to inform future public health emergency responses.

“Maybe our team, we are going to look at that as part of the action review to find out the cost of how much it entails to be able to deal with one case of quarantine and management of a case of Ebola. So that is one of the things that we are going to do, and it will be able to inform our processes going forward,” Amoth said.

The review will come after Kenya contained the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, which resulted in nine confirmed cases, including two deaths and seven recoveries.

Keep Reading

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale also announced that the government would document the financial and material support received from development partners during the response, including contributions from the World Health Organisation and the United States government.

Duale disclosed that the US government had committed approximately 14.5 million dollars towards the response, although the funding was channelled through implementing partners rather than directly to the Ministry of Health.

“You remember the commitment that the US government made about 14.5 million dollars, but that went to implementing partners. It has not come to MOH,” he said.

He said the Ministry would account for the support provided through implementing partners and other organisations, including WHO, to establish the contributions made during the outbreak.

The Cabinet Secretary also said bilateral partnership and cooperation with the US government had historically accounted for about 35 per cent of Kenya's health budget, underscoring the importance of external support to the country's health sector.

Duale had earlier said the containment of the outbreak was achieved through collaboration between national and county governments, public and private hospitals, development partners and communities.

The Ministry is expected to undertake an intra-action review during the 42-day countdown towards declaring Kenya Ebola-free on December 23, followed by a comprehensive after-action review once the outbreak is officially declared over