Mukono district grapples with Monkeypox epidemic as patients resist treatment

At least three patients diagnosed with Monkeypox (Mpox) in Mukono district have declined treatment according to the district health officer, Dr Stephen Mulindwa.

Mukono district has recorded a cumulative total of 33 cases since last year, with 30 patients agreeing to treatment Entebbe National Isolation Centre but the most recently confirmed patients have reportedly refused to comply with the health officers.

“What is happening is that we are in direct contact with them. We are negotiating with them. We are also working with various stakeholders, including security agencies. And I know they will accept even today; we might evacuate them,” said Mulindwa.He added, “In terms of management, so far, the management protocols which are there, the policy says they are supposed to be treated from Entebbe. So, when you test positive and you decline to go to Entebbe, we are not going to treat you from here because we do not have a treatment centre.”

Residents in Mukono have expressed concerns about the public health risks posed by patients refusing treatment. Wilberforce Katende, a local resident, warned, “Why fail to evacuate the patients well knowing that their presence in public increases contacts?”

The district health officials identified sex workers as the primary drivers of the disease, with their main contacts being commuter taxi drivers, boda boda motorcyclists, and vendors.

The district task force chaired by the resident district commissioner (RDC) Fatumah Ndisaba, has implemented strategies to combat the epidemic including community sensitization through audio towers and radio talk shows, mobilization of village health teams (VHTs) to engage local communities, and emphasizing preventive measures such as avoiding sexual intercourse with unfamiliar individuals, steering clear of congested places, and promoting hand and clothing hygiene.

“Don’t have sex with those women you don’t know, because you are going to have sex with somebody who has the disease and you are going to end in problems. When I talk about sex, all those other things of kissing, we have discouraged them,” Dr Mulindwa noted.