Hundreds protest U.S.-run Ebola field hospital in Kenya
· UPIJune 1 (UPI) -- Hundreds of residents in central Kenya marched Monday in protest of plans for a U.S.-run field hospital in which Americans exposed to Ebola would be treated and quarantined.
Officers from the U.S. Public Health Service would run the facility at Laikipia Air Base near Nanyuki, Kenya. The hospital was supposed to open last Friday. However, a Kenyan court blocked that opening, with another hearing set for Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.
Kenya has had no cases of Ebola in this outbreak thus far, but there have been about 1,000 cases worldwide, with about 200 suspected deaths, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kenya has increased screening and security measures to lessen the risk of the disease spreading to the country.
Nanyuki residents said the hospital facility would endanger the lives of those living nearby.
"If it is not good for America, why is it good for us? Why does the U.S. only care about itself?" Gibson Maina, 25, said to The Washington Post. "The moment we get sick people here, how sure are we that we will be able to contain the disease and that we will be able to survive it?"
The protests were largely peaceful with "localized disruptions," Capital News in Kenya reported. The Post, however, said some demonstrators set fires and "clashed with the police."
Officials have said the hospital would keep U.S. citizens with Ebola from returning to the United States for treatment. Katiba Institute, a constitutional rights advocacy group in Kenya, filed the lawsuit that blocked the facility from opening.
The Law Society of Kenya has also opposed the hospital, Capital News reported. Charles Kanjama, leader of the society, said that Ebola treatment centers should be closed to the outbreaks and not in countries with no cases.
"We owe patients human solidarity, but public health requires facilities to be placed near outbreak epicenters," Kanjama said.
Sarah Korere, a local leader, also said such a hospital should be closer to the problem areas.
"As residents of Nanyuki, we have said we do not want the Ebola rescue center in Nanyuki," she said to Capital News. "And it's not just Nanyuki; we've said we do not want it in Laikipia, and not yet Laikipia, we don't want it in Kenya."
Kenyan Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said any international agreement for Ebola treatment facilities must comply with Kenyan laws and public health protocols. The United States said in a statement last week that it was in talks with Kenyan officials after the lawsuit.