By Chirusha de Mel
In the 1970s, the
Ebola virus was first reported in remote villages of Africa. It was originally believed
to be transmitted to people from wild animals. The outbreak of Ebola lasted
three decades, which has perpetuated fear and economic turmoil among the
regional populations in Africa. Since the 1970s, the outbreaks have increased. The
main question individuals begin to ask is, how does a government begin to
strengthen core public health capacities, and how does it count as a global
health security concern? In addition, the documentary Outbreak, mentioned how the WHO did not do much in order to help
the individuals in Guinea and Sierra Leone it is important to reform WHO, and
to distil lessons learned from the outbreak in these countries.
In
the documentary, Outbreak the
sickness began to spread across the region of Guinea. The virus was mistaken
for cholera and malaria. But by March, the virus began to spread and travel hundreds
of miles which killed more than 50 people. The government then began to send a
team of scientists to investigate and take blood samples. The government of
Guinea had no experience on how to respond. Health care
workers, medical equipment and effective supply and communication networks were
in desperate shortage. Later the WHO mandated to help governments respond more efficiently
to the outbreaks. However, according to Dan Edge “the W.H.O. left the response in the hands of its
officials in Guinea, who had no experience of Ebola. They set up what would
become daily meetings with the government of Guinea, Doctors without Borders
and other aid organizations.”[1]
In the documentary they stated, the
government and Metabiota had no system in place to monitor people who had been
in contact with Ebola victims. This lack of contact tracing meant that hundreds
of cases went undetected. Officially, more than 10,000 people have died. The
true figure is believed to be much higher. Many argue that
protecting their own borders is more important. Yet the disease is spreading
through all the regions of West Africa, an adequate response is needed. It
addition it is important that many individuals living in the United States
should understand that, we have a humanitarian responsibility to help these
regions in Africa, and also to protect the United States. If Ebola is unchecked, it most definitely has
the potential to tear up the global fabric of the world order. Therefore, it is
important to reform the non-profit organizations. It will definitely help keep
the populations secure against epidemic threats.
Good post. In my post I also criticize the WHO for their inadequate response and their overall apathy to the disease. I like how you took it a step further, by saying the group should be reformed altogether.
ReplyDeleteThey took some time to declare Ebola an international crisis. But why? What constitutes as a global crisis? Especially with the knowledge we had of Ebola for decades, it is not hard to suspect this virus would be apocalyptic for poor African nations, and possibly damaging to the whole world.
Do you think it's not too crazy to think diseases from Africa present a threat to our security at home?
Anthony Coppola
I like how you criticize the WHO for their poor response to the problem. I am interested what type of reform you would suggest. I am also curious if there is a chance the response could have been different if the disease started in a more developed country like the US. I wonder if there would have been less initial deaths in that case.
ReplyDeleteBrianna Arnold
I too criticized the World Health Organization in their slow response to the spread of Ebola. I am curious how you would reform altogether or what you would have done differently? Do you think a faster response from other countries such as the U.S. would have slowed down the spread of the disease?
ReplyDeletePost by Hedvig Blanco