“Saturday is my day and I am looking forward to it as I hope there will be no other case before as I want this country to be free once and for all from ebola,” he said expectantly.
While addressing European MPs at the Ministry of Finance on Monday, the NERC boss said last year in November, he took over the fight and the first week in charge was catastrophic as 577 cases were recorded.
Palo Said it was at that time he knew he had to provide the leadership that the workers needed or else they are going to fail. He said it was not easy but they fought through and through to get where they are now.
Explaining to the delegation, the CEO said where they are now is close to the end and they have put forward programmes that they will be working on. He said after Saturday they have put forward their plan of transition because they were brought on board for a limited time and as ebola finishes, they will be disbanded and everybody will return to his original post.
Palo Conteh says they have zero plus 42 days which he referred to as the medical date and zero plus 90, which he says is the political date. “The zero plus 90 is zero plus 42 plus another 48 days, which is 90 days ending on 31st December, when I will leave the NERC for another appointment if the President pleases.”
The zero plus 90, the CEO says, if in case they have any relapse they would be able to act fast as they don’t want the Liberian scenario to occur in Sierra Leone.
He said after the 31st December, they will hand over responsibilities to various institutions. “All health matters back to the Ministry of Health as constitutionally they are responsible. Disaster Management will go to the Office of the National Security as they are mandated to deal with such.”
Palo Conteh said after zero plus 42, WHO will give another 90 days, which is zero plus 42 plus 90 days. “That 90 days period we will have intense surveillance checking for diseases to make sure that everything is in place in terms of health.”
The CEO said they are now working with the Ministry of Health as they plan to start an ambulance service and they would either use the 117 emergency number or they will find another.
Looking forward, the CEO said they will look at lessons learnt that they would not make in the future.
Another area he said they are working on now is to get the survivors together, help them and make sure that they are well taken care of. “We don’t want to stigmatise them as science is yet to prove that the particles find in their semen is active. We are making sure that we do everything possible to keep them safe and test their semen on monthly basis to make sure that they are not left on the streets to languish as some of them have to go back to school, colleges and their workplace, so we have a package already prepared for them.”
Palo Conteh commended the EU for their support and said he was in Brussels when President Koroma met with them and had seen all what they have been doing for the country. He called on all Sierra Leoneans to stay safe as we should not allow the countdown to slip away from us at this crucial time
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