They evacuated 5 indigenous children from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta for whooping cough

The health emergency due to whooping cough has been going on since mid-March in the indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta; although the authorities announced on March 23 that a medical unit would be assigned to deal with the situation, cases continue to appear. In the latest report, according to Blu Radio, the Air Force had to evacuate five minors from the Kogui community, who present a critical condition caused by whooping cough that could not be treated by the medical mission sent by the local government.

The minors were referred to the Santa Marta hospital for timely care and to counteract respiratory symptoms due to the outbreak of this disease that could even lead to their death. It should be noted that the boys and girls were accompanied by their respective relatives. For now, no information is known about their general state of health, but they were treated immediately arrived at the health center.

Recall that a few days ago, the Secretary of Health of Dibulla (La Guajira), Ranzell Saurith Lindo reported that with the medical care provided to the 1,420 people of that ancestral community, the aim was to stop the outbreak of acute respiratory disease that, among other symptoms, has caused Kogi minors diarrhea, cough, dry mouth, lack of appetite and vomiting.

“We defined air transport with medical equipment from IPS Gonawindua, the holding of weekly monitoring tables every Thursday at 3 pm until the crisis is over, meeting with the Wiwa people to raise early warning to prevent further outbreaks, the socialization of the medical mission on April 4, 2022 and the making a progress report to the Ministry of Health,” the Secretary of Health of Dibulla told the Barranquillero newspaper.

In addition to monitoring and health care, the official told El Heraldo that there would 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 that prevent the recurrence of such a health situation in the community.

Likewise, according to the Secretary of Dibulla, a differential plan would 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.

“The district of Santa Marta, together with the department of Magdalena, will work with La Guajira to provide the necessary biologicals, the creation of an interdepartmental management coordination team for the prevention of these diseases in the future in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta will be studied,” said Saurith Lindo in his dialogue with The Herald.

The announcement of the start of the medical mission was made six days after the Dibulla Health Secretary announced in an interview with RCN Radio that they were having difficulties accessing the indigenous reservation, due to the fact that 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.

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