The cause of the world hands up with Ebola

According to the latest statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola outbreak in West Africa currently kills 2,296 people. Half of the deaths from this devastating disease occurred in the last 3 weeks.

WHO said 47% of deaths and 49% of 4,269 cases of Ebola virus infection so far have taken place within 21 days, as of September 6. The organization expects up to 20,000 people to be infected until the most serious Ebola epidemic breaks down.

The Ebola epidemic seems to be progressing very seriously, out of control since the outbreak in Guinea in March, then spread to other neighboring West African countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. Analysts said that there are at least 7 reasons why the world is "helpless" against the current Ebola outbreak:

The medical staff accompany a man infected with Ebola virus to the treatment hospital in Monrovia, Liberia.(Photo: Getty Images)

1. Propaganda campaigns start quite late and do not reach enough people

In Uganda, soon after a case of Ebola infection was identified, health officials gave away a flood of guiding messages on how to protect people safely in all mass media. People do not leave their homes for fear of infection, and they immediately report suspicious cases to the authorities. This is one of the reasons why Uganda has successfully eliminated four Ebola outbreaks, even when they attacked urban areas.

According to Dr. Anthony Mbonye, ​​leader of Uganda's health sector, this positive community awareness campaign has not started as early as necessary in the current Ebola epidemic in Africa."They reacted too slowly to help the community realize the disease," Mr. Mbonye said sharply.

Ishmeal Alfred Charles, a relief worker who is active in the Ebola epidemic in Freetown, Sierra Leone, said the people were unaware of the disease until the end of July, about 4 months after the case was suspected. first appeared in this country.

"The incident only became serious when we lost Dr. Sheik Umar Khan (a famous local doctor against Ebola, died July 29 and was mentioned by numerous world newspapers.) That's when the The political vehicle began to divert and the government began gathering resources to support , " Charles said.

Charles also realized that, when the new epidemic broke out, most of the propaganda messages about Ebola focused only on mainstream media, including television and radio, so they mostly approached the class. middle and upstream of the country. Meanwhile, in Sierra Leone, many people live in impoverished communities and essentially have no access to radio, television or the internet.

For this reason, in the past months, Charles and his colleagues have tried to go to every cave and alley to propagate Ebola. They even broadcast loudspeakers for volunteers in communities to help every citizen understand the disease. Of course, the message came too late and Ebola now attacked almost every district in Sierra Leone.

The proportion of adults who are literate in countries around the world.(Photo: UNESCO)

2. Affected countries have the lowest literacy rate in the world

The propaganda campaign to raise awareness about health care is not easy in places where people are illiterate and unreadable. When you look at the map above, you will see, the countries that are currently most affected by the Ebola - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone epidemics (highlighted in green circles) are also countries with low literacy rates. most in the world.

3. Rumors about Ebola

The low literacy rate, the lack of access to mainstream medical information and the slow propaganda campaign only encompassed numerous rumors about Ebola. There is currently no cure for Ebola yet, but lies about how to treat the incurable disease have spread rapidly. A persistent mistake is that hot water and salt can prevent Ebola. Others claim, the method of healing by prayer or hot chocolate, coffee and onions kill the virus. Homeopathy is even thought to have the effect of eliminating deadly pathogens.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised people to be wary of Ebola treatment for "quack" . Meanwhile, African health officials have created a unique way to erase deceit rumors. The newly released dance song "Ebola in Town" immediately attracted attention. The content of the song directly mentions how to avoid the disease: "Ebola, Ebola is in the city. Don't touch your friend! Don't kiss, don't eat something. It's dangerous!"

A mob of protesters raided an Ebola quarantine center in West Point slums on the outskirts of the capital Monrovia, Liberia, on Aug. 16 and shouted "No Ebola" slogan.(Photo: Word Press)

In Lagos, Nigeria, local authorities have resorted to a "rumor control" to launch a battle against the ongoing transmission of false information. "The rumors themselves can really cause a lot of damage," said Jide Idris, Lagos state councilor of health.

And Mr. Idris has reason to worry. Some observers said that if Ebola started in Lagos, Africa's most populous city with 22 million inhabitants, it could instantly turn into a crisis around the world.

4. Countries with the poorest outbreaks in Africa, with a fragile medical system

Before the Ebola outbreak broke out, the three most heavily affected countries this year were Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, which had extremely weak health systems, as well as little money to spend on health care. community health. No more than 100 USD is invested per person, every year in the health sector in most Africa. These countries are also facing the highest rates of maternal and child mortality in the world today.

The border areas were closed due to Ebola epidemic, as of August 31.(Photo: CDC)

Therefore, the resources of these countries were severely stretched when Ebola attacked. Daniel Bausch, professor at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, who is cooperating with WHO, said: "If you are in a hospital in Sierra Leone or Guinea, there will be nothing unusual You ask for gloves to wear the patient's examination and get the answer that "We don't have gloves in the hospital now" or "We're out of clean needles" - all you need to say protect yourself against Ebola virus ".

Under these conditions, local health workers - who are most severely affected by the disease - start to panic and leave their jobs. And the situation is getting worse.

In Liberia, nurses conducted protests for Ebola. When present in Sierra Leone in July, Bausch also witnessed a chaotic situation because of a similar demonstration of nurses. Mr. Bausch said, an Ebola isolation treatment room has only 2 doctors with 55 patients. When he arrived at the hospital one morning, he even saw many patients lying on the floor, in a pool of blood, vomit and stool.

"What should have happened is that a nurse or a nurse or a hygienist would come and disinfect and clean up the area. But when you don't get that support, the situation is really serious. more important, " stressed Mr. Bausch. And because of that, the disease is constantly spreading.

5. Vulnerable disease surveillance systems

The most heavily affected West African countries also have epidemic surveillance systems full of loopholes. On the contrary, places that have been able to fight Ebola viruses in the past, such as Uganda, possess very strong disease surveillance systems, according to Estrella Lasry, consultant for tropical medicines for the Doctors organization. border (MSF).

In Uganda, suspected Ebola cases have been tested and validated quickly. Information is also spread throughout the country's surveillance system as quickly as possible, so that preventive measures and medical propaganda campaigns are implemented immediately.

Lasry said that, although there is no way to completely prevent another outbreak, we can prevent the spread by implementing appropriate measures to identify Ebola and block contain the infection as quickly as possible.

The fight against Ebola raging in West Africa is facing difficulties due to a shortage of manpower, weak health care and surveillance systems and a slow response of the international community.(Photo: EPA)

6. The international community reacts too slowly

"Ebola is a preventable disease. We have had more than 20 outbreaks before and have managed to control them," said Lawrence Gostin, professor of medical law at Georgetown University. , affirmed. Even so, at this point, the international community's response cannot do that.

Mr. Gostin said that we lacked mobilization, such as WHO did not call for a public health emergency until August, 5 months after the first transboundary Ebola spread. Part of the reason for this slow response may be due to cuts in WHO, which lacks staff and resources.

However, Mr Gostin said, the current Ebola epidemic is also revealed, our global systems are designed to be weak and lack the ability to cope with the epidemic. In an article published in the Lancet magazine, Gostin proposed a solution to overcome the shortage of manpower as well as fragile health systems to increase the effectiveness of international responses to epidemics. future.

7. The countries most heavily affected are increasingly involved with each other

The most worrisome infectious object in any pandemic or epidemic is travelers. And in this outbreak, all three of the worst-affected West African countries are sharing border lines with too many holes, making the disease easily spread among those traveling to work or go to market.

However, Dr. Bausch said, the outbreak in West Africa this time reminds us that we are living on an increasingly cohesive planet. This is a new practice, and it will reshape the way health officials evaluate the evolution of Ebola.

The title has been changed.