US President Barrack Obama(Getty Images)
In July 2014, Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer arrived Lagos, Nigeria, Ebola-Stricken and infected doctors who tried restraining him from leaving a hospital where he was admitted, having collapsed at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport. And in a matter of weeks, the virus spread onto two doctors and a pregnant nurse. Surprisingly, the virus was contained (after a nationwide panic coupled by strong awareness from medical institutes and the Lagos Government).
With Nigeria’s poor health infrastructure, it is baffling how the disease was contained in a timely manner (in less than two months, WHO declared Nigeria Ebola-free). So surprising that US (which is currently battling the Ebola pandemic) has begun studying Nigeria’s containment tactics and consulting health officials over the matter.
The most important thing to note in Nigeria’s case is that there was never at a point where the country was assisted by foreign aid or military intervention. This begs the question; Do Africa Really Need Foreign Aid/Assistance?
Ebola Virus: The World’s Common Enemy
It’s not a Hollywood sci-fi movie, it’s not a 90’s myth anymore; over 4000 people have died from Ebola Virus, making it the world’s most dangerous and feared disease.
The statistics from the World Health Organization (who has described the disease as ‘one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind’) is alarming – the recent outbreak has killed 70 per cent of victims, nearly 100 health workers have died, with over 3000 deaths recorded in West Africa alone.
Liberia: The Unfortunate Home Of The Incurable Plague
Liberia isn’t where the Ebola Virus originated from. The first ever known incidents were in Nzara in Sudan and Yambuku in Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire) back in 1976. It is still unclear how EVD found its way back to the West African state. In the space of just six months, over 2000 citizens have fallen victims and died after contracting the disease.
With less than 100 healthcare workers in a country (which has always lacked basic healthcare amenities), EVD has mercilessly ripped through the streets of the capital Monrovia, to mention the least, causing fear and panic.
Solomon, a Liberian based in Lagos Nigeria, says it cost him over N150,000 to get his mother (who was before residing in Monrovia) relocated from the ‘hot zone’. Those who have not the financial capability to do so have stayed back, praying, hoping for some sort of light at the end of this black tunnel. At night, residents literally hear screams – another family member or friend is probably dead.
Isolation wards has been setup – a prominent one is in the Liberian province of Bong County; families are tested there, often separated if one member tests positive for the virus. Those tested negative must leave the ward immediately while those who test positive moved into a high security wing.
Even with the intervention of U.S Military personal to combat the virus, Liberia has suffered tremendously on all fronts – economically also. The country bases its entire existence on the hope that intervention from international aid is successful.
America Welcomes Ebola With Open Arms
Despite the US raising the alert level of West Africans travelling into its country, Liberian citizen Thomas Duncan (who had reportedly contracted the virus in Liberia) was allowed entry into the country. Duncan was later diagnosed with the virus at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, six days after he began to exhibit Ebola symptoms. Duncan passed away on October 8, 2014.
Four days later, the US recorded its first case where the disease was contracted. An unlucky 26-year-old is currently battling to save her life.
It’s going to take a more than the individual efforts from affected countries to rid the virus of its existence permanently – it will take more than international bodies having series of countless meetings trying to create policies on how strategies can be implanted.
It will basically take a collective effort from every country – affected or not to rally round and support each other, as the world currently hangs in the balance of existence and extinction.
