Act Now to Contain Ebola

　　The Ebola spread in West Africa has been compared to a war - taking lives， creating terror and decimating entire communities. While September saw a spate of pledges of aid - 3，000 American troops to help provide aid in the region， Britain planning to build and operate an Ebola clinic in Sierra Leone， Cuba promising to send more than 160 health workers and China sending a 59-person mobile laboratory team to Sierra Leone that includes lab experts， epidemiologists， doctors and nurses， Doctors Without Borders told the World Health Organization (WHO) that the global response to the deadly disease is falling far short of what is needed.

　　In mid-September， more than 4，200 people had been infected and nearly 2，300 died， many of these health workers， according to the WHO， which stated that these numbers are likely to be conservative.

　　One of the biggest blockages in the logistics of support and response is that countries bordering Sierra Leone， Liberia and Guinea have closed their borders and canceled flights. This poses major disruption to the transportation of much-needed relief supplies as well as health workers getting to the most affected areas. Where international response teams have made it to hot zones they are finding it difficult to man the beds needed by patients， due to the growing numbers. Ultimately， separating the sick from those who have not been infected is the only viable solution to arrest the spread of Ebola， and this is not happening because hospitals and clinics in West Africa are now turning the sick away. There is simply not enough space to treat everyone. Ironically this promotes circulation of the disease， which kills at least 50 percent of those infected.

　　Along with the desperately slow response by the international community to this global health emergency， funds and health workers to drive the WHO’s Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Response Plan to deal with the virus have not been forthcoming. The number of Ebola cases in West Africa could start doubling every three weeks， with costs of nearly $1 billion to contain the crisis， the WHO said on September 16. Clearly little of that funding has been imminent.

　　“If we wait for vaccines and new drugs to arrive and end the Ebola epidemic， instead of taking major action now， we risk the disease reaching from West Africa to our own backyards，” said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy.

　　Nations with the expertise， equipment and personnel to arrange humanitarian response operations need to act now. Operating in tandem with the military and health authorities in the countries affected in West Africa， a concerted international effort can save precious lives and contain this humanitarian crisis. The window of opportunity for action is closing incrementally on a daily basis. This cannot become yet another tragic scenario in Africa that becomes a yawn and drifts out of the global consciousness. Although media headlines around the epidemic may fade， given the current pace of assistance， the number of Ebola deaths will continue to rise.

　　THE EDITOR

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