By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
The medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontiers leading the Ebola fight in West Africa, has frowned at the response of the international community towards the outbreak in Sierra Leone, describing it as "still small”.
MSF’S liaison officer, Sharon Ekanbaram, told a conference in Freetown that Ebola was a global problem that required a global response, adding that responses towards it so far did not match the situation on the ground.
She said that even though the American government had announced a huge investment in the fight against the disease in the Mano River region, much of that would be directed to Liberia. She accused non-governmental organisations of failing to ask the right questions as far as the Ebola fight was concerned.
She urged all NGOs to serve as watchdogs over the activities of government throughout the period of the fight and observed that the only way of stopping the further spread of the disease in the country was through effective isolation and care. That, she said, should be done with dignity.
The MSF liaison officer called for the construction of treatment centres in all districts of the country.
Ajibu Jalloh of the information ministry explained that about 1,500 people had contacted the disease countrywide. Of the number, he went on, 474 had died whiles 329 survived it. He said there were many more responding to treatment at various health facilities across the country.
"The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone is bigger than government", he stated and cautioned the public to continue listening and adhering to messages from health professionals as that was the only way through which the chain of transmission could be broken.
Jalloh said, the government was still to receive any money from the US$300 m allocated to the 3 Ebola-affected countries in the MRU.
(C) Politico 18/09/14
