“Ebola Slowing in Liberia, W.H.O. Says, but International Support Is Still Necessary”
Introduction
The article provides an insight Ebola as deadly and fatal disease resulting from infection with the strain of Ebola viruses. Its transmission involves direct contact with body fluids of someone who has exhibited Ebola symptoms. The 2014 epidemic is the biggest in history, affecting many countries in West Africa with more than 4,900 people having succumbed to it.
The aim of this writer is to show some positive progress of this epidemic with the infections rates slowing down by day in Liberia, one of the highly affected Western African countries. Before even the outbreak, Liberia was already facing a health crisis as some hospitals had already been abandoned while those that were still functioning lacked the basic facilities like water and rubber gloves. Critically ill victims lay outside the walls of the overwhelmed treatment centres, with no access. Corpses were collected from roadsides, homes and bushes. The article also shows that health workers and specialists in Liberia are now more aware of the situation and have employed the required precautions to prevent its spread. Doctors would get infected early and die because they would think the patient was suffering from Malaria, a disease that is common in Liberia. However, with the good news, World Health Organization believes that with planned investments and a very aggressive program of work this deadly virus can be stopped.
Despite Ebola being declared as an international health emergency that requires a global approach, World Health Organisation has given information on the health specialists in Liberia. The specialists have been reporting that new rates of Ebola infections have declined so intensely in recent weeks that even some of the busiest hospitals and treatment facilities are now empty. The number of funerals of Ebola victims has also dropped drastically.
However, despite the positive data from Liberia, it is significant to increase the aptitude of treatment centres for patients’ isolation, and more training and supervision. It is also recommendable that no skin to be exposed and workers should wear protective equipment. International support is also still necessary as people may misinterpret the information and stop taking precautions. For example, people might be reluctant during burials, considering that its victims are most infectious at death. This may lead to re- infections in areas thought to have been cleared off the disease starting a new transmission chain, and eventually the virus will start trending upwards once more. Nevertheless everyone can acknowledge that the current conditions are an improvement from the devastating situation of the epidemic over months ago.
In my opinion, the study undertaken by W.H.O. and reported in this article is imperative as it shows that the international efforts to fight the disease are now getting the upper hand on the virus. The Liberian government’s rigorous public education and awareness campaign to reduce contact with the infected is also playing a great role in reducing the infection rates. However, as much as the information given is shedding a positive light, there should be room for errors as some data might be incomplete. The number of new cases and deaths may be undercounted for certain locations due to difficulties in gathering data in most of the outbreak areas. There being a drop in day to day infection rates does not mean the end of the epidemic. Therefore, precaution measures should be taken throughout to mitigate the magnitude and spread of this virus.
References
CUMMING-BRUCE, N. (2014, October 29). Ebola Slowing in Liberia, W.H.O. Says, but International Support Is Still Necessary - The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/world/africa/ebola-liberia-who.html?action=click&contentCollection=US+Open®ion=Article&module=Promotron
Mason, M. (2009). Critical thinking and learning. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
