Inmates in prisons in Gulu and Amuru districts will have to wait a little longer before they can receive visitors due to an outbreak of conjunctivitis (pink eye) disease, the regional prisons commander for Northern Uganda, Allan Okello, has said.

Okello told The Observer on Friday that despite on-going efforts to curb the spread of the disease in the two prisons, new cases are being reported. As a result, he added, the ban on visitation to inmates will not be lifted for the time being.

According to Okello, the epidemic could surge again if visitation is allowed before it is contained.

“I don’t know when we shall lift the suspension of visitation but it will not be [done] until this disease is wiped out completely from prison,” he said.

The temporary ban on visiting inmates in all prisons in Gulu took effect on December 26, 2016, shortly after the outbreak of the epidemic in the district jails. Since then, all the prison facilities have been out of bounds for any visitors in a bid to stop the contagious disease.

The incarceration facilities affected by this move are; Gulu Central prison, Gulu remand home, Lugore prison (Gulu), and Kaladima prison in Amuru district. Pink eye, which is better known in Uganda as red eye, is an inflammation that affects the membrane lining the eye and eyelid. It is caused by a virus or bacteria and sometimes by chemical fumes, dryness or allergies.

It is a contagious disease with symptoms like redness around the eye and in the eyes, swelling, visual discharge, tearing, burning sensation of the eyes, itching and visual discharge after the incubation period of four months.

Statistics from Gulu district heath office indicate that 795 inmates have been diagnosed and treated for the disease. Many of them are from Gulu Central prison whose total population is 1,283 inmates.

Okello said prisons authorities have stepped up efforts to combat the spread of the disease through screening new inmates who are first accommodated in two isolation wards before joining their counterparts.

The Gulu district health educator, William Onyayi, noted that in their last meeting, they resolved that inmates shouldn’t be allowed to move outside the prison premises, especially where they might interact with locals.

“As the health team in the district, we agreed with Prisons officers that inmates should not be sent on any errands outside or even work in other people’s gardens,” he said.

Okello lauded the World Health Organisation (WHO) for providing the district with equipment – hand washing containers, surgical gloves, detergent and drugs (eye drops).

An official at Gulu regional referral hospital, who preferred anonymity, has however criticized the district authorities for “politicizing” the effort to combat pink eye disease, which resulted in the exclusion of the region’s biggest hospital from intervention efforts.

“How can they leave out Gulu regional referral hospital and yet if they had gone through us, this problem would have been dealt with fast?” said the official.

When that concern was put to Gulu district’s William Onyayi, he apologized to the hospital administration, saying they had been excluded from the task force team because it was set up ‘abruptly’.

“We always have task force meetings every Wednesday and this time we are going to include Gulu hospital and all other partners to ensure that there is a combined effort in the fight against the disease,” he noted.

Last month, the Rapid Response Team (RRT) led by Dr Ben Masiira, an epidemiologist from ministry of Health, took samples from patients to the National Virus Research Institute in Entebbe. Dr Masiira told The Observer that they are still waiting for the outcome of the results, which will determine the net course of action.

Masiira added that the central government had earmarked Shs 52 million to bolster the district in confronting the outbreak. Gulu  LC-V chairman Martin Ojara Mapenduzi appealed to the local leaders to help sensitize their communities about the epidemic, arguing that many are still not aware of how the disease spreads.

“All local leaders and health officials at the grassroots should educate the people about the disease and call upon them to maintain personal hygiene and avoid handshakes,” he advised.