[ 2014-09-09 ]

Ebola situation in Liberia worsens
Accra, Sept.8, GNA – The World Health
Organisation (WHO) says the Ebola situation in
Liberia requires non-conventional interventions in
tackling it.‏

A statement issued by Fadéla Chaib, WHO
Communications Officer and copied to Ghana News
Agency on Monday said during the past weeks, a WHO
team of emergency experts worked together with
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and members of her
government to assess the Ebola situation.

It said transmission of the Ebola virus in Liberia
is already intense and the number of new cases is
increasing exponentially.

“The investigative team worked alongside staff
from the Ministry of Health, local health
officials, and other key partners working in the
country.

“All agreed that the demands of the Ebola
outbreak have completely outstripped the
government’s and partners’ capacity to
respond. Fourteen of Liberia’s 15 counties have
now reported confirmed cases,” the statement
said.

It observed that some 152 health care workers have
been infected and 79 have died.

It said when the outbreak began, Liberia had only
one doctor to treat nearly 100,000 people in a
total population of 4.4 million people, adding
that every infection or death of a doctor or nurse
depletes response capacity significantly.

The statement said Liberia, together with the
other hard-hit countries, namely Guinea and Sierra
Leone, is experiencing a phenomenon never before
seen in any previous Ebola outbreak.

It said as soon as a new Ebola treatment facility
is opened, it immediately fills to overflowing
with patients, pointing to a large but previously
invisible caseload.

It said of all Ebola-affected countries, Liberia
has the highest cumulative number of reported
cases and deaths, amounting, on September 8, to
nearly two thousand cases and more than one
thousand deaths.

It said the case-fatality rate, at 58 per cent, is
also among the highest.

The WHO investigation concentrated on Montserrado
County, which includes Liberia’s capital,
Monrovia.

“The county is home to more than one million
people. The teeming West Point slum, which has no
sanitation, little running water, and virtually no
electrical supplies, is also located in Monrovia,
and is adjacent to the city’s major market
district,” it said.

In Montserrado county, the team estimated that
1000 beds are urgently needed for the treatment of
currently infected Ebola patients, however at
present only 240 beds are available, with an
additional 260 beds either planned or in the
process of being put in place.

According to a WHO staff member who has been in
Liberia for the past several weeks,
motorbike-taxis and regular taxis are a hot source
of potential Ebola virus transmission, as these
vehicles are not disinfected at all, much less
before new passengers are taken on board.

It said when patients are turned away at Ebola
treatment centres, they have no choice but to
return to their communities and homes, where they
inevitably infect others, perpetuating constantly
higher flare-ups in the number of cases.

The statement observed that other urgent needs
include finding shelters for orphans and helping
recovered patients who have been rejected by their
families or neighbours.

It recounted that last week, WHO sent one of its
most experienced emergency managers to head the
WHO office in Monrovia.

It said coordination among key partners is rapidly
improving, aiming for a better match between
resources and rapidly escalating needs.

It said the investigation in Liberia yields three
important conclusions that need to shape the Ebola
response in high-transmission countries.

First, conventional Ebola control interventions
are not having an adequate impact in Liberia,
though they appear to be working elsewhere in
areas of limited transmission, most notably in
Nigeria, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.

Second, far greater community engagement is the
cornerstone of a more effective response. Where
communities take charge, especially in rural
areas, and put in place their own solutions and
protective measures, Ebola transmission has slowed
considerably.

Third, key development partners who are supporting
the response in Liberia and elsewhere need to
prepare to scale up their current efforts by
three- to four-fold.

As WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan told
agencies and officials last week in New York City
and Washington, DC, development partners need to
prepare for an “exponential increase” in Ebola
cases in countries currently experiencing intense
virus transmission.

The statement said: “Many thousands of new cases
are expected in Liberia over the coming three
weeks.”

It said WHO and its Director-General would
continue to advocate for more Ebola treatment beds
in Liberia and elsewhere, and would hold the world
accountable for responding to this dire emergency
with its unprecedented dimensions of human
suffering.

Source - GNA

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