Ebola diary: where is everybody?

[Vibrant62]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11258136/Ebola-diary-where-is-everybody.html

There are many dreadful things about the Ebola outbreak, but the worst is the world's indifference to it

A few months ago I read a blog of an MSF volunteer who found himself shouting over the beautiful jungled canopy of Sierra Leone ?Where is everybody?? Today, four months after the World Health Organisation declared an international emergency, I did the same thing. I had gritted teeth and clenched fists and it came out as more of a squeak than a war cry but still, my fury and incomprehension echoed his. I always knew I would find it frustrating being unable to provide care as sophisticated as I would like for patients suffering, but this isn?t only about the unavailability of intensive care units and swishy machines that beep. This isn?t only about watching young people die in a terrible way and being able to offer nothing but time-honoured words of comfort in badly accented Krio.

This is about people dying in triage tents with no access to any kind of medical therapy as there are no beds available. This is about having to put desperately sick people in ambulances for five hours as that is how long it takes to get to the nearest treatment centre with space. This is about laboratory turn-around times that mean that people negative for the disease sit in beds next to patients with profuse vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding for up to eight days, waiting for their test results. This is about how the world knew that a nightmarish plague had hit west Africa and the world waited over six months and then sang a song about it.

Of course, I know that many agencies are contributing and working as fast as they can, and that there are some on the ground who have been advocating and campaigning for action for months. I only arrived a fortnight ago so I can?t imagine how much more furious and frustrated they must be. Perhaps during my time here progress will be made and there will be improvement.

More at link

 

[nola_mnr]

Re: Ebola diary: where is everybody?

The article below is from two weeks ago. I decided not to post it here then because I didn't want to stoke the fires of an unproductive flame war. I'm very appreciative that flutrackers generally avoids those.

However, I do think it is important to know where more can be done. The fact is that this Ebola outbreak is a global threat and no one country is in a position to stop it alone.

Africa: Almost Half the G20 Countries Have Failed to Deliver in the Global Fight Against Ebola
http://allafrica.com/stories/201411131719.html

Nine of the G20 countries have failed to deliver adequate support in the fight against Ebola despite calls for more help and the fact they are the largest economies in the world, Oxfam says today.
[...]
But four G20 countries - Argentina, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - are yet to make any contribution to the international response. Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia should be doing a lot more. Meanwhile, France should increase its efforts to provide an adequate leading response in Guinea, rapidly turning its pledges into aid.
[...]
Of the G20, the US, UK and EU, followed by Canada, China and Germany have shouldered most responsibility. Oxfam says they must persuade other G20 countries to do more. Australia, Italy, Japan, South Africa and South Korea have made welcome contributions, but are encouraged to do more in the face of continued and mounting needs.
[...]

 

[Vibrant62]

Re: Ebola diary: where is everybody?

Thanks for posting.

As time goes by, I think it is important that any articles with novel news re: the ebola outbreak continue to get posted. The number of major english articles has dropped severely in recent weeks, with the exeption of the mainstream media in the UK. I try to pick stories that have something new to say, or include novel information I have not seen before, or represent an update of the current situation - there are more, but most keep rehashing the same information.

News Monitors could be forgiven for thinking that current measures to defeat ebola are enough and that the crisis is over, as the volume of news reports drops, when this is not the case and ongoing international support is still required. I suspect that some countries are witholding pledges for the same reasons i.e they believe that the problem is 'over' when it isnt.

While things are improving in some areas, ebola is still far from being under control in any of the primary countries, and this needs to be highlighted.