Sierra Leone Archives - Capital Berg

Doctors Without Borders Fight Against Malaria

January 19, 2015 By June Harris

Doctors Without Borders is all set to begin second phase of distribution of malaria drugs in Sierra Leone. The effort will certainly protect a large number of Ebola patients from Malaria.

Malaria is a life threatening blood disease. Generally, it is transmitted from one person to another through a specific kind of mosquito. The symptoms of malaria arise within seven days of parasite attack. Fever, chills, headache, sweats, fatigue, nausea and vomiting are the major symptoms of the lethal disease.

Surprisingly, the symptoms of Ebola and malaria are quite similar. In Sierra Leone, thousands of patients came to hospitals for the check up of Ebola and diagnosed with malaria. The time duration from the emergence of symptoms and test is extremely stressful for the patients.

Hence, concerned authorities figured out that treating malaria can lessen the burden of the health professionals.

Jonathan Caplan, MSF coordinator for the distribution states that the NGO can play a vital role in fight with Malaria. The move will save a lot of lives in Ebola affected regions. Since, the complete eradication of Malaria will give a clear picture of Ebola. It will allow the health workers to put all their concentration on Ebola.

This is not the first time when MSF carried out an extensive delivery of malaria treatment. Earlier, the French founded NGO have distributed nearly 1.5 million malaria drugs and vaccine in Sierra Leone.

A Sierra Leone cemetery full of children as a result of the worst Ebola epidemic in decades

January 17, 2015 By Cliff Jenkins Scott

King Tom cemetery in Sierra Leone named after the long forgotten ruler clearly represents what the deadly Ebola epidemic did to this land.

The cemetery is hidden behind flaking grey walls in the suburbs of Freetown, the capital of the West African country of Sierra Leone.

For years the cemetery has been fighting a losing battle for space with a neighboring municipal refuse dump, from which piles of debris and garbage overflow onto the gravestones. But now, the tides have turned, as the cemetery overflows with the Ebola affected causalities in one of Sierra Leone’s worst epidemic outbreaks in decades.

There is special section for children in the cemetery and it has seen the rapid rise in size as a result of the Ebola outbreak.

Fiona Mclysaght who is the Country Director for Concern Worldwide says, “There are a staggering number of children being buried here on a weekly basis. Between the first and the fifth of January 156 children under the age of five were buried here in King Tom.”

WHO blames governments in Ebola crisis and seeks more influence for future

January 12, 2015 By Marlene R. Litten

The World Health Organization has stated that the Governments did not take up serious roles during the onslaught of the Ebola crisis which resulted in the disease’s severity. WHO further wants more power and influence in order to tackle future health emergencies, according to documents published by the agency.

WHO has been on the receiving end of severe criticism because of its slow response to the Ebola epidemic, which has killed more than 8,371 people, as of now, out of the 21,000 cases reported in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

WHO had promised to release a full report of the Ebola crisis when the disease came under control, but has not done so as of now.

But according to documents submitted to WHO’s 34 nation Executive Board, the agency criticized the governments that had put International Health Regulations that cover public health risks and disease outbreaks at risk by closing borders and discriminating against travelers from Ebola-affected countries.

The report also said that some of the states also didn’t have the minimum standards in place in primary areas such as surveillance, preparedness and risk communication.

The agency also stated in another report that the agency should be restructured and given more power in order to tackle future health emergencies in an effective and better way.

US Ends Enhanced Airport Ebola Screening For Travelers From Mali

January 6, 2015 By June Harris

Voyagers from Mali will no more face enhanced screening upon landing in the United States, US authorities said on Monday, in a move reflecting the West African country’s gains over Ebola.

Beginning on Tuesday, travelers from Mali won’t need to go to the United States through five particular airports or be subjected to extra screening or checking for the infection, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Bureau of Homeland Security said in an announcement.

Authorities said the last Ebola patient in Mali tested negative on December. 5, and there are no other active cases in the nation, which has seen cases of the ailment as a consequence of the flare-up in adjacent Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Enhanced screening from passengers from those 3 countries are still in operation. Also, any individual who went from Mali and entered the United Stated before Tuesday must be screened for the infection for 21 days, the period it takes for symptoms to appear, the announcement said.

“Following isolated cases of Ebola in Mali would not automatically oblige re-institution of these measures, which are utilized just when there is a danger of prevalent transmission,” authorities said.

US authorities established extra layers of airline traveler screening in October as part of an intensified attempt to stop the spread of the infection. Despite the fact that the impact of the outburst is focused in West Africa, the September death a Liberian man who fell sick in Texas shook Americans.

Cuban Doctor heals successfully against Ebola in Geneva

December 6, 2014 By Cliff Jenkins Scott

A Cuban doctor makes a full recovery against the deadly Ebola virus at a local hospital in Geneva, and is already enroute to meet up with his family members back home on Saturday.

Dr. Felix Baez was amongst the 256 Cuban doctors and nurses who participated in relief activities against the Ebola outburst in West Africa earlier this year. The outbreak which has killed more than 6,000 people till date is one of the worst recorded.

At the request of the World Health Organization WHO, Baez was hospitalized in Geneva, whose head office is also situated in the city.

Dr. Baez contracted the disease in the worst hit country Sierra Leone. 106 out of a total of 138 health workers who caught the disease in Sierra Leone, have died, resulting in a much higher fatality rate than among health workers in the neighboring Guinea and Liberia.

At the hospital in Geneva, Baez received two drugs to fight the disease and spokesman said he was feeling much better after two days of treatment. Amongst the two drugs, one was the Canadian experimental ZMab and the other was the untested Favipiravir made by Japan’s Fujifilm. ZMab is a precursor to ZMapp, which has been used to treat several U.S. patients as well. While Favipiravir is included by WHO in its list of potential Ebola treatments.

Baez was the first case of Ebola in Switzerland and also Cuba’s first citizen to contract the deadly disease. He was treated in complete isolation at the hospital and at no point in time was there any risk of transmission to the masses.

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