The document summarizes the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the deadliest in history. It describes the origins and spread of the virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. It discusses factors that contributed to the rapid spread such as weak healthcare systems, cultural burial practices, and a slow international response. Critics argue the IMF, local governments, and WHO failed to adequately address the crisis in its early stages. Over 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths were reported before the outbreak was declared over in 2016.
In light of the of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa the Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report.
Since most of our student are not back yet from summer break I reached out to past alumni and members of Team Rubicon to assist in putting this report together.
The report was compiled entirely from open source materials. Please feel free to forward the report to anyone who might be interested.
Any students, past alumni, or volunteers who would like to work on future slides let me know. Assistance is always welcome.
In the absence of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and the protective measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human infection and death.
In light of the rise in Ebola Epidemic in West Africa Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report.. Past alumni, graduate students from Tulane and Yale, and members of Team Rubicon have assisted in putting this report together.
The report was compiled entirely from open source materials. Please feel free to forward the report to anyone who might be interested..
The goal of this presentation is to raise the awarness about EBOLA virus and how serious is it increase the knowledge of all health care personnels about this dangerous disease
In light of the of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa the Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report.
Since most of our student are not back yet from summer break I reached out to past alumni and members of Team Rubicon to assist in putting this report together.
The report was compiled entirely from open source materials. Please feel free to forward the report to anyone who might be interested.
Any students, past alumni, or volunteers who would like to work on future slides let me know. Assistance is always welcome.
In the absence of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising awareness of the risk factors for Ebola infection and the protective measures individuals can take is the only way to reduce human infection and death.
In light of the rise in Ebola Epidemic in West Africa Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report.. Past alumni, graduate students from Tulane and Yale, and members of Team Rubicon have assisted in putting this report together.
The report was compiled entirely from open source materials. Please feel free to forward the report to anyone who might be interested..
The goal of this presentation is to raise the awarness about EBOLA virus and how serious is it increase the knowledge of all health care personnels about this dangerous disease
Fighting Against Ebola: Public Health and NepalMMC, IOM, Nepal
Ebola is not just a clinical manifestation but is seen as more of a Global health injustice issue to developing nations. And, Nepal being one of those developing nations, is it ready for the potential Ebola outbreak?
Dr John Bergman discusses the true CAUSE of the most recent PANDEMIC SCARE...EBOLA! Get the real facts and research studies that reveal the truth about this "dreaded disease". Did you know that Ebola was discovered back in 1976? Why are we JUST NOW hearing about the risk to Americans? Learn 5 simple steps already proven to eliminate Ebola in Africa.
In light of the Ebola Outbreak in Guinea and Liberia the Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report.The Yale-Tulane ESF #8 Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-center, graduate-level, program designed to produce ESF #8 planners and responders with standardized skill sets that are consistent with evolving public policy, technologies, and best practices. The group that produced this summary are graduate students from Yale.
Fighting Against Ebola: Public Health and NepalMMC, IOM, Nepal
Ebola is not just a clinical manifestation but is seen as more of a Global health injustice issue to developing nations. And, Nepal being one of those developing nations, is it ready for the potential Ebola outbreak?
Dr John Bergman discusses the true CAUSE of the most recent PANDEMIC SCARE...EBOLA! Get the real facts and research studies that reveal the truth about this "dreaded disease". Did you know that Ebola was discovered back in 1976? Why are we JUST NOW hearing about the risk to Americans? Learn 5 simple steps already proven to eliminate Ebola in Africa.
In light of the Ebola Outbreak in Guinea and Liberia the Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report.The Yale-Tulane ESF #8 Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-center, graduate-level, program designed to produce ESF #8 planners and responders with standardized skill sets that are consistent with evolving public policy, technologies, and best practices. The group that produced this summary are graduate students from Yale.
In light of the rise in #Ebola Epidemic in West Africa Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Program has produced this special report. Past alumni, graduate students from Tulane and Yale, and members of Team Rubicon have assisted in putting this report together.
The report was compiled entirely from open source materials. Please feel free to forward the report to anyone who might be interested.For those of you who are deploying and would like us to focus in on a specific topic or issue let us know and we’ll do our best go get the materials or information you need. If any of you would like to volunteer to help put the brief together let me know and we’ll add you to our team.
West Africa Ebola Outbreak 1
West Africa Ebola Outbreak
Joseph Toole
Principles of Epidemiology PHE 5015 S01
12 Jun 2016
Introduction
Around two years ago, there was worldwide uproar concerning Ebola. The outbreak had occurred in West Africa with individuals nations’ health departments stretched to the limit while trying to cope with the situation. Well wishing nations had to volunteer in terms of health practitioners and funds among other ways in order to assist the nations. Ebola is an infectious disease that is deadly discovered in Zaire in 1976. It is caused by Ebola virus which can be spread via contact with an infected person. Its spread it’s fast since contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids. This paper will cover an overview of outbreak in 2014 in West Africa, observations, recommendations and conclusion.
Overview, Investigative methodology and rationale for the topic
The first outbreak of the epidemic was discovered in early 2014. It was reported in countries of West Africa namely: Sierra Lone, Guinea and Liberia. The three countries were the huge victims of the epidemic. Most of the victims of the outbreak died with a few survivors (CDC, 2016 n.d. - a). The reported symptoms among the victims were fatigue, fever, severe headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding (CDC, 2016 n.d.-b). The symptoms are discovered roughly between 2 -21 days after infection. The methodology employed in order to determine the magnitude the outbreak encompassed different aspects. There was laboratory tests, study design and patients, data analysis and ethical considerations played a vital role. Study was carried out around the suspected victims. Lab tests were done via use of victim’s blood or oral swap. Ethical considerations were employed to determine the response of public health to the outbreak and contain it. Data analysis was vital in order to relate each case to a certain geographical location. Data from center for disease, World health Organization, European center for Disease prevention and control, National Institute of health will play a critical role in this paper since it will back up the facts presented. The rationale behind choosing the topic is to assist in comprehending the methods employed by epidemiologists in order to understand diseases in populations determine what disease is affecting the population and finally employ measures to treat as well as prevent its future occurrence.
Ebola in West Africa
Outbreaks in Africa have been reported as early as 2007. The ailment was previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever which is capable of affecting both humans and primates. It has a couple of species which include the Sudan virus, Reston virus, Bundibugyo virus, Tae Forest virus and Ebola virus. Reston is common in the monkey species. Few cases have been reported regarding the outbreak since it was discovered ranging from around 1-400 annually. For instance, in Gulu villag.
AssignmentPurposePretend you are a homeowner and need to get.docxnormanibarber20063
Assignment
Purpose
Pretend you are a homeowner and need to get your house painted. Create a clear statement of work that you could give to a contractor. You can make up details of the project as you see fit, but all requirements you give should be clear and measurable.
Instructions
As a minimum, the statement should clearly detail:
· What the project is, why it’s happening, and what it will achieve (overview)
· Who has approval (governance)
· How the project will be completed (approach + phases + tasks)
· What will be produced (deliverables)
· When it will be delivered (timeline + milestones)
· What it will cost (estimate + payment schedule)
· What is and isn’t included (assumptions)
Grading Rubric
Criteria
Ratings
Pts
Quality
20.0 to >18.0 pts
Excellent
Excellent document addressing all elements of the prompt with clearly articulated and measurable requirements
18.0 to >15.0 pts
Good
Good document addressing all elements of the prompt with not all requirements being clear and/or measurable
15.0 to >13.0 pts
Fair
Fair document addressing most of the prompt with not all requirements being clear and/or measurable
13.0 to >0 pts
Poor
Poor document with many missing items
EBOLA VIRUS BREAKOUT 4
BREAKOUT OF EBOLA VIRUS IN AFRICA COUNTRIES
(2014-16)
BREAKOUT OF EBOLA VIRUS IN AFRICA COUNTRIES
(2014-16)
1. Introduction
The world health organization reported the cases of EBOLA virus back in 2014 from forested region of Guinea, this ruler region was the first to report the largest and most terrorizing Ebola virus breakout in the history of humanity. This virus is also spread to other African countries and became one of the deadliest in the world. West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, have seen one of the History’s most traumatized virus outbreak. These countries are considered one of the highest populated and poor countries in Africa. Though African countries faced Ebola virus before but this outbreak take over 1500 lives. Therefore this paper will analyze the Ebola Virus Breakout of 2014. The Ebola Virus does appear after this massive breakout but the less intensity. Following are the insight of this terrifying outbreak in which the reasons of this huge spread will be discussed.
2. The Deadly Virus
Ebola Virus is the very rare but it is considered as the deadliest virus. After entering in the body this virus damages immune system, it make cell if the body explode, which results in heavy bleeding, it attacks on the organ cells and damages the organs as well. This cause bleeding in the body and a person dies. This virus previously called as hemorrhagic fever but its now known as Ebola virus.
Ebola is contagious but quite less than colds and influenza etc. Ebola spread with the contact of body fluids and touch or from any infected animal, the animal spread was a major.
Ebola outbreak: International Health experts urge to send in military! Harm Kiezebrink
Prevention and preparation for large-scale outbreak situations are having a serious price tag, but by neglecting the outcome of risk assessments do have disastrous consequences that turn crisis situations into a worldwide disaster. Read what happens when doctors and nurses are doomed to treat highly infectious patients without any Personal Protection Equipment, no amount of vaccinations and new drugs would be able to prevent the escalating disaster.
Read about what the international president of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Dr Joanne Liu explains that the world is 'losing the battle' as cases and deaths continue to surge. As one of the leading health experts she urges military teams to be sent to west Africa immediately if there is to be any hope of controlling the Ebola epidemic.
During a meeting with the United Nations on Tuesday, doctors working on the frontline of the outbreaks painted a stark picture of health workers dying, explaining that patients left without care and infectious bodies lying in the streets. Although alarm bells had been ringing for six months, the response had been too little, too late.
Running head Ebola outbreak in western AfricaEbola outbreak in .docxsusanschei
Running head: Ebola outbreak in western Africa
Ebola outbreak in western Africa
Ebola outbreak in western Africa
Joseph Toole
Principles of Epidemiology
5 June 2016
Since the beginning of March 2014, West Africa experienced the largest Ebola outbreak in history. The unprecedented scale of the most recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa as of April 29, 2015, caused more than 10884 fatalities in 26277 cases that were reported. Prior to this outbreak, the virus had caused relatively smaller outbreaks the most devastating on being in a small village in Uganda known as Gulu where there were more than 425 deaths were reported in isolated cases in central Africa. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically the various major themes surrounding the 2014 outbreak, including the epidemiological studies, the methods utilized, the approach to the study as well as the data collection and statistical measures and analysis. The report will compile a comprehensive database of estimates including the epidemiological parameters based on the data from previous outbreaks. The most recent outbreak has ironically provided an opportunity for understanding the patterns of transmission of EDV (Van Kerkhove, Bento, Mills, Ferguson, & Donnelly, 2015).
Before the intensification of the Ebola outbreak, the western African countries were making considerably remarkable progress economically. In Liberia and Sierra Leone, in particular, rapid economic development was clearly evident as the countries continued to fight and rise from years of civil strife and abject poverty. In the previous year, the two countries were ranked among the top ten countries in the world in GDP growth .guinea as a country had a relatively slower economic growth but with prospects of tremendous growth with the initiation of the expected simandou iron ore project on which major key investors in the iron mining industry had signed. The industry was however had hit by the outbreak since the prices began to drop considerably while mining plans were halted due to the Ebola outbreak. The effect of the project as described above has raised concerns about the profitability of these projects in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and a guinea, the IMF had prospected the GDP growth of the countries that year to be 11.3 percent, 5.9 percent, and 4.5 percent respectively. As a result of the outbreak, the IMF revised the growth rates to 8.0 percent, 2.5 percent, and 2.4 percent respectively (WHO, 2016).
In addition to the fatalities, the Ebola outbreak almost brought the economy of the affected West African nations to a standstill. The agricultural sector being the key economic sector in these nations was hard hit since the outbreak came during the planting season affecting the normal planting activities, therefore, diminishing the yields of the staple maize and rice crops. The prices of everyday consumer agricultural product rose by more than 150% pushing the nations to the brink of starvation and unparallel ...
Public Health Response to Ebola Statement of Dr. FriedenDawn Dawson
House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Public Health Response to Ebola October 16, 2014
Statement of Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
One of the most developed cities of India, the city of Chennai is the capital of Tamilnadu and many people from different parts of India come here to earn their bread and butter. Being a metropolitan, the city is filled with towering building and beaches but the sad part as with almost every Indian city
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Defecation
Normal defecation begins with movement in the left colon, moving stool toward the anus. When stool reaches the rectum, the distention causes relaxation of the internal sphincter and an awareness of the need to defecate. At the time of defecation, the external sphincter relaxes, and abdominal muscles contract, increasing intrarectal pressure and forcing the stool out
The Valsalva maneuver exerts pressure to expel faeces through a voluntary contraction of the abdominal muscles while maintaining forced expiration against a closed airway. Patients with cardiovascular disease, glaucoma, increased intracranial pressure, or a new surgical wound are at greater risk for cardiac dysrhythmias and elevated blood pressure with the Valsalva maneuver and need to avoid straining to pass the stool.
Normal defecation is painless, resulting in passage of soft, formed stool
CONSTIPATION
Constipation is a symptom, not a disease. Improper diet, reduced fluid intake, lack of exercise, and certain medications can cause constipation. For example, patients receiving opiates for pain after surgery often require a stool softener or laxative to prevent constipation. The signs of constipation include infrequent bowel movements (less than every 3 days), difficulty passing stools, excessive straining, inability to defecate at will, and hard feaces
IMPACTION
Fecal impaction results from unrelieved constipation. It is a collection of hardened feces wedged in the rectum that a person cannot expel. In cases of severe impaction the mass extends up into the sigmoid colon.
DIARRHEA
Diarrhea is an increase in the number of stools and the passage of liquid, unformed feces. It is associated with disorders affecting digestion, absorption, and secretion in the GI tract. Intestinal contents pass through the small and large intestine too quickly to allow for the usual absorption of fluid and nutrients. Irritation within the colon results in increased mucus secretion. As a result, feces become watery, and the patient is unable to control the urge to defecate. Normally an anal bag is safe and effective in long-term treatment of patients with fecal incontinence at home, in hospice, or in the hospital. Fecal incontinence is expensive and a potentially dangerous condition in terms of contamination and risk of skin ulceration
HEMORRHOIDS
Hemorrhoids are dilated, engorged veins in the lining of the rectum. They are either external or internal.
FLATULENCE
As gas accumulates in the lumen of the intestines, the bowel wall stretches and distends (flatulence). It is a common cause of abdominal fullness, pain, and cramping. Normally intestinal gas escapes through the mouth (belching) or the anus (passing of flatus)
FECAL INCONTINENCE
Fecal incontinence is the inability to control passage of feces and gas from the anus. Incontinence harms a patient’s body image
PREPARATION AND GIVING OF LAXATIVESACCORDING TO POTTER AND PERRY,
An enema is the instillation of a solution into the rectum and sig
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Navigating Challenges: Mental Health, Legislation, and the Prison System in B...Guillermo Rivera
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Global launch of the Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index 2nd wave – alongside...ILC- UK
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Alongside the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva on 28 May 2024, we launched the second version of our Index, allowing us to track progress and give new insights into what needs to be done to keep populations healthier for longer.
The speakers included:
Professor Orazio Schillaci, Minister of Health, Italy
Dr Hans Groth, Chairman of the Board, World Demographic & Ageing Forum
Professor Ilona Kickbusch, Founder and Chair, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute and co-chair, World Health Summit Council
Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director, Country Health Policies and Systems Division, World Health Organisation EURO
Dr Marta Lomazzi, Executive Manager, World Federation of Public Health Associations
Dr Shyam Bishen, Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare and Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum
Dr Karin Tegmark Wisell, Director General, Public Health Agency of Sweden
2. What is Ebola?
Ebola is a deadly disease caused by a virus. After entering the body, it kills cells,
making some of them explode. It wrecks the immune system, causes heavy bleeding
inside the body, and damages almost every organ.
• Symptoms:
Early on, Ebola can feel like the flu or other illnesses. Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after
infection and usually include:
High fever.
Headache.
Joint and muscle aches
Sore throat.
Weakness.
Stomach pain.
Lack of appetite.
As the disease gets worse, it causes bleeding inside the body, as well as from the eyes, ears, and
nose. Some people will vomit or cough up blood, have bloody diarrhea, and get a rash.
6. Etienne Ouamouno holds photographs of his wife Sia and two children Emile and
Philomene, the first known victims of this Ebola outbreak
7. Patient Zero:
• Emile was just two years old and living in the remote Guinean village of when he
began suffering from a fever, headache and bloody diarrhea.
• In December 2013, the young boy died - followed within days by his three-year-
old sister Philomene and their pregnant mother Sia.
• Ebola infected village health workers before spreading to nearby districts.
• Early on, health workers and doctors believed they were dealing with cholera or
Lassa fever, and of the first 15 deaths documented four were health staff.
9. Outbreak Timeline:
• In March 2014, hospital staff alerted Guinea's Ministry of Health and
then medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). They reported a
mysterious disease in the south-eastern regions of Guniea. It caused
fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. It also had a high death rate. Of the first
86 cases, 59 people died. The WHO confirmed the disease as Ebola.
• By the end of March, Ebola had crossed the border into Liberia.
• In May, It was confirmed in Sierra Leone.
• In June, MSF described the Ebola outbreak as out of control.
• in July, Nigeria had its first case of the disease.
10. In August 2014, the United Nations health
agency declared an
"International Public Health Emergency"
11. Outbreak Timeline:
• on 29 August, Senegal reported its first case of Ebola. A young man from
Guinea had travelled to Senegal despite having been infected with the
virus, officials said.
• By September, WHO director general Margaret Chan said the number
of patients was "moving far faster than the capacity to manage them".
• in October, Director of CDC in the US, said that the Ebola outbreak in
West Africa was unlike anything since the emergence of HIV/Aids.
• On 25 October, Authorities in Mali confirmed the death of the country's
first Ebola patient, a two-year-old girl.
16. Ebola outside West Africa
• Infection outside Africa has been restricted to health workers in Madrid and in
Dallas except for three cases.
The first case of the deadly virus diagnosed on US soil was announced on October. He
contracted the virus in Liberia. Two medical workers in Dallas, Texas, who treated
patient tested positive for Ebola since his death but have both recovered.
The second death on US soil was surgeon, from Sierra Leone. He was flown back to
the US in November and treated for Ebola at a hospital in Nebraska but he died a
short time later.
• Germany, Norway, France, Italy, Switzerland and the UK have all treated
patients who contracted the virus in West Africa.
17.
18. At 13 January 2016, WHO declared the last of the
countries affected, Liberia, to be Ebola-free.
28,616
Ebola cases have
been reported in
Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone
11,310
deaths.
10,000
survivors of
Ebola virus
disease.
4,809 Liberia
3,955 Sierra Leone
2,536 Guinea
8 Nigeria
20. Liberia
• Ravaged by a 14-year violent civil conflict,
that ended in 2003, Liberia's health
services struggled to deliver basic services
long before the Ebola outbreak.
• The first case across the border was
confirmed in March, throughout September,
the county was reporting more than 200
new cases each week.
• With only around 60 Liberian doctors
before the Ebola outbreak, the death of a
number of its high profile and most
competent medical professionals left the
country's health staff decimated and
demoralized.
21. Sierra Leone
• It was one unsafe burial that ended up leading
directly to Sierra Leone's explosion of Ebola
cases in the summer with 365 Ebola deaths.
• The healer had treated Ebola patients flocking
to seek her care across the border from Guinea,
before dying herself.
• Health teams working in the region identified a
further 13 women who caught the virus
attending the same burial, starting a chain
reaction of infections, deaths and more
funerals.
• From there Ebola spread to Sierra Leone's
capital Freetown where overcrowded living
conditions and fluid population movements
helped it to spiral further out of control.
22.
23. Nigeria: A success story
• A country home to 170 million, Nigeria has
almost seven times the combined population of
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
• A rapid response and effective tracing of almost
1,000 individuals who may have been exposed to
the virus meant the number of Ebola deaths in
Nigeria was limited to eight.
• At the heart of the fight against Ebola in Nigeria
was Dr.Ameyo Stella Adadevoh.
• Dr.Adadevoh diagnosed American-Liberian
Patrick Sawyer with Ebola when he was
hospitalized in Lagos.
• The doctor and her staff physically intervened
when Mr Sawyer tried to leave the treatment
center. This action cost Dr Adadevoh and three
medical staff their lives when they too contracted
the disease.
25. “global response has ‘failed miserably’ in its response to the Ebola virus. We
should have done so many things. Healthcare systems should have been built.
There should have been monitoring when the first cases were reported. There
should have been an organized response.”
Jim Kim
The president of the World Bank
26. “The world, including WHO, was too slow to see what was unfolding
before us.“
Margaret Chan
WHO director-general
January 2015
27. IMF policies & Ebola spread in West
Africa:
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have contributed to
the rapid spread of Ebola in three West African states, because
of under-funded, insufficiently staffed, and poorly prepared
health systems in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
• Conditions on IMF loans to Guinea, Sierra Leona and Liberia
over the past two decades prioritized debt repayments and
building foreign exchange reserves over healthcare spending.
Heavily indebted to foreign lenders after emerging from
conflicts, the three countries rely partially on loans to run
government services, including health centers. (Gulland 2014)
28. Local Governments:
• The three poor West African states are heavily dependent on donor
funding. Conflict in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s also
contributed to the destruction of their health systems.
• Within this mix the governments of West Africa must accept some
responsibility for not calling for assistance earlier. Indeed, the fact
that Liberia’s president attracted criticism from the leaders of Guinea
and Sierra Leone even after it had become apparent that the virus
was wreaking widespread havoc is a damning critique of the political
leadership throughout this crisis.
• Other countries in the region, including Nigeria and Senegal – who
also faced cases of Ebola – had stronger healthcare systems, which
were able to stop mass contagion of the epidemic.
29. WHO:
• Ebola was most definitely not expected in Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone. The virus had
never been seen in West Africa before. So when the first cases were reported in March there
was no big WHO machine ready to roll. As it turns out, West Africa's Ebola outbreak
actually began in Guinea last December and seems to have gone almost unnoticed for three
months.
"Nobody knew that this disease called Ebola would be possible in such parts of Africa," said
Dr Isabelle Nuttall, the WHO's Director of Global Capacities, Alert and Response.
• But even if the WHO did not expect Ebola in West Africa, it did receive information, and
warnings, from medical experts on the ground. Medical charity Medicines Sans Frontiers
(MSF) said on 31 March that Guinea was facing "an epidemic of a magnitude never before
seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country". But on 1 April, the WHO's senior
communications officer, Gregory Hartl, suggested that MSF was scaremongering.
30. WHO:
• An outbreak of Ebola was officially declared in Guinea on 23 March 2014 and WHO
secretariat mobilized a response team via the Global Outbreak Alert and Response
Network (GOARN) to deploy to Guinea to assist local health authorities.
• Throughout April 2014, the organization continued to mobilize technical support and
resources to assist the affected countries. As a result, by 7 May 2014 some 113
technical experts had been deployed to assist the health authorities in Guinea, Liberia,
Sierra Leone and AFRO.
• As of May 7, 2014 the number of confirmed Ebola cases in Guinea was 235.
31. WHO:
• Till 10 June 2014, a total of 440 suspected or confirmed Ebola cases.
• The rise in cases so alarmed some officials in AFRO that they contacted the secretariat
in Geneva recommending a PHEIC be declared, but the response they received
discouraged invoking the IHR 2005, suggesting a declaration of that nature would only
damage relations with the affected countries.
The term PHEIC is defined in the IHR (2005) as “an extraordinary event which is
determined, as provided in these Regulations:
to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of
disease; and
to potentially require a coordinated international response”.
This definition implies a situation that: is serious, unusual or unexpected;
carries implications for public health beyond the affected State’s national
border; and may require immediate international action.
32. WHO:
• The WHO's regional headquarters in Africa issued irregular online statements as to
new cases and death tolls, which were often not confirmed by WHO headquarters in
Geneva for several days.
• By 17 June, number of cases had risen again, to 528 suspected or confirmed cases.
• Only in June did the WHO call a meeting of its Global Outbreak Alert committee,
and only then, it seems, did WHO Director General Margaret Chan take a long hard
look at the situation.
• The IHR emergency committee met for the first time over two days on 7–8 August
2014 and conveyed to the director-general their assessment that the declaration of a
PHEIC was justified.
33. It took 1,000 Ebola deaths
in Africa and the spread of
the disease to Nigeria for
WHO to proclaim a global
emergency.
34. WHO:
Budget cuts
• An embarrassing internal WHO document, leaked to the Associated Press (October
2014) indicates senior WHO officials know mistakes have been made, suggesting
"nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain
writing on the wall".
• Some suggest the financial cutbacks that the WHO, like all United Nations agencies, is
facing, may be part of the problem.However, others argue that money shortages should
not cause a failure to listen to clear warnings and should not have caused months of
delay in recognizing the extent of the Ebola epidemic.
• What is clear is that the organization's structure, will need a major re-examination
and there will be calls for more flexibility and transparency when facing the next
sudden health crisis.
35. WHO's response to the Ebola had 3
phases:
• Phase 1 focused on rapid scale-up of the response;
• phase 2 focused on increasing capacities,
• phase 3 focused on interrupting all remaining chains of
Ebola transmission, and responding to the consequences
of residual risks.
40. Ebola Hero's:
• Local volunteers going house-to-house to explain the virus, or
tirelessly burying bodies in the safest possible way, were crucial to
stop the spread.
• Communities accepting the realities of the virus and changing their
everyday lives, and families allowing their loved ones to be taken to
isolated treatment centers all played a strong role.
• Weak health systems were bolstered but an influx of local volunteers
and international teams helped.
41. Other outbreaks are likely but the hope is
the world will be better prepared and have
learnt to pay greater attention, should Ebola,
or another disease like it, strike again.
42. References:
1. WHO. Ebola outbreak 2014-2015. Retrieved from:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/
2. Baize, S., et al. (2014). "Emergence of Zaire Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea."
New England Journal of Medicine 371(15): 1418-1425.
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