Rubavu, 24 May 2019

In the context of the on-going of the Ebola outbreak in DRC that was declared on 1 August 2018, a partnership between Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and the Ministry of Health, the exercise dubbed “Kumira Ebola Simulation Exercise” was held at the Rugerero Heath Centre in Rubavu. 

At the closure, Col Dr Eugene Ngoga in charge of clinical services at Rwanda Military Hospital, said that specifically, Ebola Simulation Exercise (SIMEX III) tested RDF and RNP health personnel readiness and preparedness to a possible EVD outbreak in the country. 

He noted that during the medical simulation exercise tested RDF medical service personnel and other stakeholders on the readiness and general conduct during a probable Ebola outbreak in Rwanda.

“The good news is that no single Ebola case has been recorded in Rwanda but it’s imperative to continually train our medical practitioners and stakeholders to be able to handle any case that could emerge,” said Col Dr Ngoga.

Dr Jean Pierre Nyemazi, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health concurred saying that “we have a lot of work to do, so we have to utilize such events to prepare not only for Ebola but also for other diseases that might break out in the country.”

The SIMEX III involved various personnel from the Rwanda Military Hospital, RDF Medical Regiment, Rwanda National Police and Rwanda Biomedical Centre.

The exercise started on May 6, 2019, and involved different phases among them training sessions on Ebola disease, MoH Guidelines, SOPs during the disease outbreak and rehearsals.  At the end of this exercise, the participants were equipped to appropriately intervene and effectively contain Ebola in case of an outbreak.