An mpox survivor’s tale of hope

Twenty-year-old Anna Akola smiles, a beautiful wide smile that lights up her whole face. She speaks very softly, and if you are not attentive, you can miss her words. It is hard to believe that this is the same person who, a fortnight ago, was writhing in pain and discomfort in the isolation unit at Pallisa General Hospital in Eastern Uganda.

Anna had been diagnosed with mpox, a viral disease that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 14 August 2024. As of 18 December 2024, Ministry of Health reports show that 1,089 cumulative mpox cases had been confirmed in Uganda.

On 8 November 2024, Anna started feeling a headache and went to a clinic in the Kampala city suburb of Namuwongo. She received some painkillers. “I was feeling body pain, including in the joints. Sometimes I was feeling too much heat in my body. My eyes were red, and I could not eat because of the wounds in my mouth,” recalls Anna.

After three days with no improvement, Anna returned to the same clinic and tested positive for malaria and ulcers. She was given treatment for both ailments. When her condition still did not improve, Anna decided to go to her home in Meitu village, Obutet parish, in Obutet sub-county, Pallisa District, to be nursed by her family members.

However, upon arrival at home, her condition worsened. She was in too much pain. The lesions on her body were painful. Anna’s brother took her to a nearby clinic where she spent the night.

After a restless night in the clinic, Anna’s family decided to take her 10 kilometers away to Pallisa General Hospital. She tested positive for mpox. The news left her deeply shocked. Anna had never imagined that the disease she had been reading about on her smartphone was what she was suffering from. Yet, she did not lose hope.

After spending close to three weeks in the hospital, Anna doesn’t regret making the decision to seek health care. Although Anna had no attendant, the health workers’ words and actions soothed her.

Pallisa General Hospital has no designated isolation ward. The district health office, with support from WHO, improvised by allocating a section of the pediatric ward as an mpox isolation unit initially before the current mpox treatment unit was set up. This worked to Anna’s advantage because she made friends beyond the health workers, including the attendants of the children. 

Anna received free treatment and three meals a day courtesy of the Government of Uganda and partners, including WHO, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Before Anna’s discharge from the health facility, a multi-disciplinary team comprising surveillance, risk communication, and WHO engaged the residents of Meitu village, where Anna comes from, in a 45-minute interactive community dialogue session. The session focused on mpox disease, its causes, signs and symptoms, prevention, and the need to inform the village health workers or the nearest health facility in case anyone has signs and symptoms. 

During the dialogue, the head of Pallisa District mpox disease surveillance, Bernard Ikwaras, emphasized the need to avoid stigmatizing anyone with the disease and the survivors.

“Anyone can catch mpox. It is therefore important that as a community, we support each other. When people recover from mpox, they can no longer spread the disease, so we do well to welcome them back into the community,” explains Bernard.

Anna’s father, Charles Otuna, also attended the community engagement session. The dialogue dispelled myths to ensure that Anna is reintegrated back into the community just like the other over 780 survivors in Uganda.

A“Based on Anna’s experience, it is critical to scale up mpox awareness to the public and to ensure all health workers in both public and private health centres countrywide participate in webinars and capacity building sessions,” says Dr Charles Njuguna, Acting WHO Representative in Uganda. “This will facilitate timely diagnosis and initiation of recommended treatment and other control interventions to stop the spread of mpox in the country.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization – Uganda.