Ebola Nearing 1,000 Deaths and Fear Factor Increasing

Ebola Nearing 1,000 Deaths and Fear Factor Increasing

Noriko Watanabe and Paul Joseph Nzeribe

Modern Tokyo Times

The Ebola crisis looks set to soon surpass 1,000 people dying and sadly the dire situation isn’t showing signs of abating. Indeed, the economic and health care strains on nations like Liberia are clearly visible. At the same time, the international response seems disjointed and based on misleading information from the World Health Organization (WHO).

After all, in the middle of May this year the WHO believed that the Ebola outbreak was nearing the end. This is based on the WHO stating that the Ebola crisis “could be declared over on May 22.”

Lee Jay Walker at Modern Tokyo Times says: “Several months later and clearly this isn’t the case. On the contrary, people are still dying and health care systems in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone need international support. Also, the psychological damage and fear factor is enormous therefore further putting strains on economic activities in areas hit the hardest.”

Reuters reports: “Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known to humanity. It has no proven cure and there is no vaccine to prevent infection. The most effective treatment involves alleviating symptoms that include fever, vomiting and diarrhea.”

It now appears that the Ebola crisis is spreading to other nations, with Nigeria showing signs of growing concern and fears persist in nations like Benin and several others. On top of this, doctors and nurses are paying a heavy price for trying to contain and alleviate the crisis. This brutal reality is extremely sad and highlights the bravery of health workers that are on the frontline.

However, the fear is that if health care workers feel abandoned and believe that internal and external mechanisms aren’t working; then some health care workers may relinquish their posts based on the enormous pressure being put on them. Of course, this is the worse case scenario. Yet, in saying this, if internal governments and external agencies are deemed inadequate, then obviously this reality may materialize to a much higher degree than currently exists.

The BBC reports: “The charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) has told the BBC that Liberia’s medical services have been completely overwhelmed by the Ebola outbreak…The MSF co-ordinator in Liberia said official figures were “under-representing the reality”, and that the health system was “falling apart.”

It is hoped that international support will increase and that internal governments will refocus on containing the crisis.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28731633

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/chi-ebola-virus-outbreak-20140809-story.html