Sierra Leone's 2012 MCH Aides Finally Get Their First Salary
...It's hard to believe that in this day and age people would work
full-time for years without pay, but amazingly this is not the only
area of government service where this occurs. We regularly receive
reports of teachers working for years in government-assisted schools
before being put on the payroll...
Sierra Leone Again Last in Maternal Mortality
...Two
years on, the WHO has released the 2015 edition of the maternal
mortality report and Sierra Leone again finds itself at the bottom of
the ranking. Indeed, Sierra Leone's Maternal Mortality Ratio, MMR,
actually deteriorated in the two year period, from 1100 to 1360
maternal deaths per 100,000 live births...
Sierra Leone Declared Free of Ebola
...The state of emergency, mass quarantining (as opposed to quarantining
of identified high-risk locations) and lockdowns (which we at one point
supported) in the end, in our layman’s view, probably did not
contribute much to the defeat of Ebola....
Liberia Declared Free of Ebola
...Liberia has significantly outperformed both Guinea and Sierra Leone in the battle against Ebola.
How Much Does an Ebola Lockdown Cost?
...Is it an effective technique against Ebola?...
How Did Liberia Beat Ebola?
...a dramatic improvement in Liberia's situation began within weeks of (the Americans') arrival...
Ebola Dollars - An Efficient Use of Funds?
Could the Ebola money have been
better spent? Might there have been a more cost effective way to seek
out...
Ebola Chart 6
The three curves...show the slowing of the outbreak
The (Extreme) Importance of the Ebola Case Fatality Rate
...data indicates that the CFR at the government-run Hastings Ebola Center, at 32.8%, is almost half the MSF Ebola CFR.
Ebola Case Fatality Rate, CFR - Another Look
The CFR of Hastings Ebola Center is approximately half the
WHO figure for institutional CFR!...
A Visit to Kingtom Ebola Center
First stop was the Prince of Wales School, where President Ernest Koroma had that very day commissioned the new Ebola center..
Ebola Chart 5
...If the trend continues, Sierra Leone will overtake Liberia in cumulative cases...
Inside an Ebola treatment center
Hawanatu had been working at the Kenema
Ebola Center at the time Dr Khan and several of his assistants became
infected and died. She described it as a terrible experience but
appeared to have no qualms about continuing...
A Visit to Freetown's Ebola Treatment Centers
...currently the only Ebola treatment center in the
country being run by the government,..We entered the facility without
encountering any infection control protocols and observed staff...
Ebola Chart 4
We continue our chart of the progression of Ebola in West Africa,
originally introduced in Chronology of the Ebola Outbreak in West
Africa. Six weeks of data are added to the last rendition of the chart,
Ebola Chart 3, bringing us to Oct 14, 2014.
Who Tests the Ebola Testers?
With so many labs in Sierra Leone from different countries and under
such pressure, is there a need for independent testing of the testers...
New Hastings Ebola Center Discharges 49 Survivors
The new Government Ebola Hospital at the
Hastings Police Training School organized a discharge ceremony for 49
Ebola survivors on Monday October 6.
British, Cuban, Chinese Teams fight Ebola in Sierra Leone
As international medical teams have come into Sierra Leone in
recent weeks Ebola treatment in Sierra Leone gradually is
being taken out of the hands of the Government of Sierra Leone.
Ebola Survival Appears Higher in the West
However the scanty data available from Ebola treatment in the West
during this outbreak appears to suggest at a minimum that immune
systems do much better in Western hospitals than in their Mano River
Union counterparts.
Ebola: Are we Repeating the Kenema Mistake in Freetown?
...Ebola quickly engulfed the Kenema Ebola Treatment Center... It was during this period that Kenema became
the second epicenter of Ebola in Sierra Leone. How much of this
infection was actually spread by the hospital and staff should be a
matter for serious scrutiny when this crisis has passed.
New Emergency Measures Introduced
The new emergency measures announced by the President extend total quarantining to five of Sierra Leone's twelve districts...
Ebola Chart 3
Our Ebola chart, originally introduced in Chronology of the Ebola
Outbreak in West Africa, is continued...In addition, trendlines are introduced for all three
countries out to the end of the year.
Could Ebola Wipe Out West Africa?
It could, if we don’t make the right decisions...We need isolation centers more than we need treatment centers.
West African Ebola - What can we learn from the Uganda experience?
Are there lessons we can draw from the Ugandan experience in this West African outbreak?
West African Ebola - What is the True Case Fatality Rate, CFR?
Various fatality rates have been mentioned in connection with Ebola.
WHO...reports a Case Fatality Rate, CFR, in previous outbreaks in
Africa of up to 90% and ... implies the CFR in this West African
outbreak is 53%. It does not give the method by which it arrives at
this figure. The Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, on the
other hand, is reporting a CFR of 37.7%.
Liberia set to overtake Sierra Leone in Ebola cases
Looking at the latest WHO Ebola figures it appears that Liberia will
soon surpass Sierra Leone in Ebola cases...Why has Liberia's position
deteriorated so? On review of various
sources it does not appear that the country took the threat lightly
initially, especially after its first handful of cases were discovered
in Week 1...Sierra Leone’s situation appears a little better, although
only time
will tell The emergency measures were announced in Sierra Leone on
August 7. With an incubation period of 2 to 21 days, one would expect
to see a decrease in the number of new cases after this period IF the
measures are working.
Krio Descendants Union statement on the Ebola Outbreak in SL
The Krio Descendants Union extends its deepest condolences to the
families of all those who...We feel we would be remiss if we did not
point out that ...Ebola and many other disease thrive in the
overcrowded, unsanitary conditions that exist in some parts of
Freetown...
MSF
Critical of WHO in Battle Against Ebola
"Statements won't save lives"; "stronger leadership" needed
Chronology
of the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
106 samples collected and tested. For what reason? The patients must
have had symptoms consistent with viral hemorrhagic fever. All 106
tested negative for Ebola. Really? At a time when the disease was
raging in Guinea and all the signs now indicate it was also raging in
Sierra Leone and Liberia. In the same period Guinea had tested 191 and
115 had tested positive. All 106 in Sierra Leone negative. Astounding!
Additional
emergency measures introduced in Sierra Leone
ALL EBOLA DECEASED SHOULD BE BURIED IN THE AREAS WHERE THEY DIED
AND
ALL SUCH BURIALS SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
SANITATION WHICH WILL GIVE NECESSARY CLEARANCE. DEATH CERTIFICATES MUST
BE ISSUED BEFORE BURIALS; THE SIERRA LEONE POLICE SHOULD ORGANIZE
REGULAR PATROLS TO PREVENT
ARMED ROBBERY AND OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING THE UNAUTHORIZED
MOVEMENT OF EBOLA-INFECTED PERSONS;
Liberia
Declares State of Emergency
The scope and scale of the epidemic, the virulence and deadliness of
the virus now exceed the capacity and statutory responsibility of any
one government agency or ministry. The Ebola virus disease, the
ramifications and consequences thereof, now constitute and unrest
affecting the existence, security, and well-being of the Republic
amounting to a clear and present danger. The Government and people of
Liberia require extraordinary measures for the very survival of our
state
Ebola
Technical Data
Ebola was discovered in 1976 and is a member of the Filovirida family...
INFECTIOUS DOSE: 1 - 10 aerosolized organisms are sufficient to cause
infection in humans...The virus can survive in liquid or dried material
for a number of days...In the laboratory, infection through
small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne
spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been
conclusively demonstrated (1, 6, 13). The importance of this route of
transmission is not clear.
Joint
Declaration by MRU Heads of State on Ebola Outbreak
We the Heads of State want to assure the international community
that the disease is not being exported. We assure the International
Community that we have instituted measures at international ports of
entry and...
Where
have all the Ebola patients gone?
If we accept the hard fact that we probably have dozens of confirmed
Ebola patients whose whereabouts are now unknown, how do we move
forward? Our Ministry of Health must come clean and institute thorough,
rigorous documentation of all new cases. This is absolutely vital if we
are to win this battle. The President announced the involvement of the
police and military and they must be used where necessary to ensure
that every Ebola suspect that comes to the attention of health
authorities is tracked until final determination of his/her case. This
is no time for Sierra Leonean sloppiness.
Liberia
records 80 new Ebola cases in 3 days
...reveals
that Liberia recorded 80 new cases in the three day period from July 24
to July 27. This is one of the highest totals recorded in any three day
iperiod in any of the affected countries since the start of the
outbreak...
Sierra
Leone President's address to the nation on Ebola outbreak
The
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) poses an extra-ordinary challenge to our
nation. Consequently, and in line with the Constitution of Sierra Leone
Act
Number 6 of 1991,I hereby proclaim a State of Public Emergency to
enable us take a more robust approach to deal with the Ebola outbreak...
Ebola
Diary 2
Mr Obama, Mr Cameron, come oh, come!
World, come oh, come! Come
and pay attention to what’s happening here! 'Our' Ebola may be out of
control. 'Our' virus may be going viral. And if it happens it could
become ‘your’ Ebola. And if that happens it could destroy you too. The
(over)cautious bureaucrats at
the WHO, in whose charge this problem now is, may not have the clout to
solve
this problem. They may be unable to look our President in the eye and
say, “Mr
President, you must do this. And you must do it now!”
MSF
'unable' to take on Ebola in Kenema
The head of mission, MSF, Sierra Leone, Mr Walter Lorenzi, has said
that MSF is unlikely to take over the running of the Kenema Ebola unit,
as demanded this week by striking nurses in Kenema. Despite his modesty
and caution, the grim facts in a week of turmoil in Sierra Leone reveal
that MSF is at the forefront in the fight against Ebola.The terrifying
spread of the disease in Sierra Leone in just the last few weeks
justifies the earlier MSF assertion that Ebola was out of control...
Sierra
Leone overtakes Guinea in Ebola cases
According
to the latest figures from the WHO, Sierra Leone is now well ahead of
Guinea in number of Ebola cases, despite having recorded its first case
some two months after Guinea...
Ebola
Diary, part 1
I am filled with a foreboding by this Ebola outbreak...The figures keep
rising with every new update. The WHO says 337 sick and 142 dead based
on government figures, but the government figures are lower...I do some
research on the internet on the Great Plague in England. It makes grim
reading. A filthy, congested city. A poorly-understood disease for
which there was no cure, readily spread from human to human. Corruption
and ignorance. 100,000 dead within a few months. And this was a small
outbreak compared to the...
Hundreds
of Health Workers unpaid for two years
Hundreds of health workers all across the country have gone unpaid for
the last two years as a result of a deliberate policy of the Ministry
of Health and Sanitation and the Government of Sierra Leone...Now these
MCH Aides have suddenly become doubly, triply important as the first
point of contact with the dreaded Ebola...
The
resurgence of Ebola – Is Sierra Leone to blame?
Guinea has registered some 4245 contacts of Ebola patients, of whom
3098 have completed the mandatory 21 day observation period. Liberia
has registered 391 contacts. Sierra Leone, with more confirmed cases
than Liberia, has registered just 37...
Sierra
Leone President's address on Ebola
And let us, in this holy month, remember in our prayers our brothers
and sisters that have fallen victim to the Ebola Disease. Ebola is
real; Ebola kills. As at our update today, 388 cases have been tested,
199 laboratory confirmed cases, 65 confirmed deaths, and 23 cases
discharged. Nearly all of these cases occurred in the Kailahun and
Kenema districts. Fellow citizens, Ebola in any part of our country is
a matter for everyone in the nation...
Ebola
Death Toll Rises
Following the confirmation of new cases and deaths in new areas in
Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, WHO and its partners continue to
provide the necessary technical expertise to the Ministries of Health
to stop community and health facility transmission of the virus. A
high-level WHO mission was conducted...
Sierra
Leone in Multiple Crises
The Ebola crisis appears to be gaining momentum, notwithstanding
efforts by Ministry of Health officials to downplay it. In press
interviews senior ministry officials still seem unsure of the figures
they are giving out, unsure of the transmission mechanisms, prevention
strategies and treatment options. One gets the sense that the resources
available are insufficient although as always civil servants are
careful not to criticize their political masters...
Interview
with Sierra Leone’s Chief Medical Officer
The WHO released its maternal health review (Trends in Maternal
Mortality, 1990 to 2013) recently and Sierra Leone was placed last with
maternal mortality of 1,100 per 100,000 live births. We spoke to Sierra
Leone’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Brima Kargbo, at his Youyi Building
office...
Sierra
Leone Last in Maternal Mortality
In its just released report on maternal mortality in 183 countries
around the world (Trends in Maternal Mortality:1990 to 2013), the WHO
places Sierra Leone at the bottom of its list for 2013. The
organization estimates Sierra Leone had a 2013 Maternal Mortality Ratio
of 1100. By contrast, Belarus in top position was estimated to have an
MMR of just 1 in the same year...