Medical mission arrived to treat pertussis outbreak in the Kogui community of the Sierra Nevada

The Secretary of Health of Dibulla (La Guajira), Ranzell Saurith Lindo, confirmed to the newspaper El Heraldo that, as of this Wednesday, March 23, the medical mission will begin in the indigenous community of Taminaka, in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, where 21 Kogi children died in recent weeks from whooping cough.

According to Saurith Lindo, with the medical care that will be provided to the 1,420 people of that ancestral community, the aim is to stop the outbreak of this acute respiratory disease that, among other symptoms, has caused Kogi minors diarrhea, cough, dry mouth, lack of appetite and vomiting.

In addition to monitoring and health care, the official told El Heraldo that there will also be a socialization on the outbreak with ethno-educational institutions, and a consultation table with the indigenous health entity Gonawindua Ette Ennaka and the Gonawindua Tayrona Organization, in order to launch actions to prevent the re-emergence of such a health situation in the community.

Likewise, as reported by the Secretary of Dibulla to the same media outlet, a differential plan will be implemented for the indigenous areas of the departments of Magdalena and La Guajira, with the aim of preventing the spread of whooping cough or other diseases in ancestral communities.

You can also read: Whooping cough: the 'mysterious' disease that made Kogi children sick, according to the INS

The announcement of the start of the medical mission comes six days after the Secretary of Health of Dibulla announced in an interview with RCN Radio that they were having difficulties accessing the indigenous reservation, because when the community was two days away from the nearest urban area, the instability of the terrain hindered the access of vehicles in which the medical group traveled.

Saurith Lindo added to the station that, in addition to the difficulty of accessing the shelter due to the instability of the land, there was also the special permission needed by the medical equipment from the ancestral authorities to enter the community.

Faced with these setbacks, the official told the station that a meeting was held with national and territorial health authorities, in which it was determined that both the Ministry of Health of La Guajira, the Ministry of Health, the EPS, IPS, the ICBF and all the indigenous and health authorities would work together not only to access ancestral territory, but to provide relevant health care.

Thus, six days after these setbacks were announced, the Secretary of Health of Dibulla informed El Heraldo that the medical mission that will begin this Wednesday to attend to the indigenous community of Taminaka, will be held until next Sunday, April 3.

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