The Human Impact of Ebola

July 1, 2015

With Afrolehar’s permission, we have decided to republish this blog on Abrabrand as the topic remains relevant. This blog was written and published by Afrolehar LLC.

By Thomas Omogi, Healthcare Commercial Markets Analyst.

In March 2014, the world became aware of the serious Ebola crisis in West Africa. It was in the news all over the world for months, and people in the UK and United States fretted as infected doctors and travelers crossed into their borders and had to be treated. Concerns of the epidemic spreading to developed nations was high for a while. In the meantime, the western African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea virtually closed their doors as the disease ran rampant through them. Homes were quarantined, businesses and schools were closed, and travel was restricted in order to contain the disease. While it did make its way into some bordering countries, it never really gained a foothold anywhere else. Most of the cases were and are contained to the main three countries.

Now, almost a year later, Ebola is not in the news so much anymore. The high profile cases in the UK and the USA have been treated (some successfully, some not), and there have been no reports of Ebola moving into the rest of Africa or anywhere else in the world. This has taken the public’s attention off of the disease. It does not, however, mean the disease is no longer a problem. Ebola is still being dealt with every day in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. While incredible strides have been made in getting the disease under control, it is by no means gone, and these countries and their people are still suffering in many different ways because of the ongoing problem of Eboloa in their borders. It is important that the rest of the world doesn’t forget that the Ebola crisis in West Africa is not yet over, because the governments and people of these countries still need the world’s care, help, and attention.

Ebola and Health Care Workers in West Africa: An Ongoing Balance Between Duty and Safety

Ebola has killed approximately 9,400 people in West Africa since March 2014. Around 500 of these people have been the health care workers who are on the front lines every day in fighting and containing this disease. They work in unsanitary and unprotected conditions at great personal risk to themselves and their families. Many of them also lack proper support and training to do their jobs to the highest possible medical standards.

Protecting health care workers on the front lines of Ebola is something that should be a big international priority. They are the ones who are responsible for keeping the disease from making its way into the rest of the world, and for maintaining the health of their countrymen and women so the disease eventually goes away. If the health care workers are ill, they cannot do their jobs. There are international relief organizations that are working with local health care workers in these countries, getting them the training and equipment they need to do what they must do, but there is always room for more assistance.

As long as the disease is active in West Africa, it will only respond to a concerted effort by a large number of people to eradicate it. Investments from international charities, businesses, and governments in this area would go a long way toward easing the burdens of the West Africans, as well as in protecting the rest of the world.

Distrust Among the West African People is Still an Issue

While health care workers strive valiantly to treat those who are affected and eradicate the disease, they face an uphill battle. This is not only due to the tenacity of the disease itself, but also due to the general distrust among most West African citizens toward the medical profession in general. This has made it very difficult for health care professionals to get citizens to comply with sanitation and hygiene instructions, and has made it necessary for the governments of the affected nations to institute quarantines and travel restrictions for all citizens. Christmas was even canceled entirely in Sierra Leone this year due to Ebola, which was a great disappointment to the citizens who had to stay home instead of attending parties and community celebrations as is their annual custom that they look forward to very much.

Part of the distrust among the people toward the health care workers is due to rumor. Rumor goes through communities…even rural ones…almost as fast as the disease itself. The biggest and most believed rumor is that Ebola isn’t a real thing, followed closely by the rumor that it is real and health care workers are the ones who are causing it. As a result, people often do not come in for treatment (with their families opting to treat them at home or use indigenous traditional healers who don’t have the tools necessary to treat the disease), and have even been violent toward health care workers who were trying to help them (1).

Families have been known to take infected loved ones out of hospitals, break quarantines, and perpetuate the ostracizing of doctors. This all contributes to the fact that Ebola is still a problem in these countries, and the governments can do very little about it. There are, after all, more citizens than government officials, and not enough law enforcement personnel to make people follow the treatment and quarantine rules.

For those who do seek out treatment, they face stigmas from their communities, as well as understaffed hospitals in the cities, and no such facilities in rural areas. The outbreak of Ebola has not yet been able to be totally controlled and contained for these reasons.

The one thing local health care workers have going in their favor is that they are largely parts of the communities they serve. The local people know them and know their families. This is helpful in convincing some members of the community to come in when they need treatment. The more people gain trust, the more they will seek treatment and comply with orders meant to contain the migration of the disease. Health care workers and governments in these countries are making a strong effort to educate the communities as much as they can, so more people will be willing to be compliant with quarantines and travel restrictions, and to seek out medical professionals when they or one of their loved ones is affected or believed to be affected by Ebola.

Ebola and the West African People: Still Fighting the Disease While Attempting to Rebuild Their Nations

It is not only fighting the migration of the disease and treating people who have it that are problems for the West African nations affected by Ebola. The disease has had economic and lifestyle consequences for most of the citizens of the affected countries.

Because of quarantines, the shutting of businesses and schools, and restrictions on travel, people have not been able to work and earn incomes. Farmers have not been able to bring their produce and livestock to markets or buy supplies and equipment necessary to keep up their farms. Household purchasing power has significantly decreased in all three countries, and goods and services (including food) are not widely available to be purchased, except on a limited basis allowed by the governments of these nations.

The availability of food is an ongoing problem in these countries because of Ebola. Not only are people not being allowed to earn the money to buy it, they are only being given limited opportunities to sell it. Most families are using their own store of crops to live on, but will face food shortages as those crop stores run dry. International and local aid efforts to deliver food staples like rice, beans, vitamin-fortified cereal, and flour door to door to households in these countries are helping somewhat, but doing so puts the volunteers in danger, and is not nearly enough to ensure a balanced or adequate diet for most people who require these services to even get by in the wake of Ebola.

Once the Ebola crisis is over, these countries will suffer the economic consequences of it for a long time to come before getting on their feet again. While there was a drop-off in new Ebola cases in January 2015 which led to a goal of eradicating it in West Africa by April 2015, this goal seems an unrealistic one as new cases appeared in February 2015. In fact, Sierra Leone and Guinea reported 120 to 150 new cases each week in February, a sharp increase in the number of reported cases from January. These are only the reported cases. The number of un-reported cases may be, and probably is, much higher.

As long as things continue like this in these countries, the economic and food situation will only continue to deteriorate for the people who live there, and more local and international aid will be needed to keep people from starving as they continue to be forced to stay home where they cannot earn a living or get an education to earn a living when they grow up. This will only lead to a generation of under-educated people in these nations who do not have the skills to reach their full earning potentials, making the reach of the effects of Ebola stretch out into the next few decades (2).

The New African Diaspora

Another big toll of Ebola in West Africa is the new African diaspora it has created. People have fled the area to escape being affected by the disease, going as refugees to clean areas that do not have it. Diaspora communities now exist in many neighboring nations, as friends, family, and neighbors from the affected countries band together to create new, safe lives for themselves until (and if) it is safe to return home. Each diaspora community has a leader or leaders who speak for it with representatives from international aid organizations, foreign governments, and the UN.

The diaspora has made its way to the UK and the USA, as well. In these countries, outreach programs are in place to seek volunteers to work directly with government officials to help combat Ebola so the diaspora can go home as quickly as possible. The importance of being active participants in educating their countrymen and women about Ebola and its true nature, and in helping them access the services they need while they wait out the disease’s progress in their countries, is an important part of bringing the disease to an end in West Africa sooner rather than later.

Ambassador Power reinforced that the U.S. government understands what it takes to end the epidemic, and that it is a matter of “mobilizing resources and will.” The U.S. response has been the largest to any global health crisis in history. Currently, there are 3,000 U.S. government personnel in the region working to curb the spread of the epidemic. Even with this robust response, the United States alone cannot curb the epidemic’s deadly spread. Other countries have joined the response effort as well, including the United Kingdom which has committed somet 230 million pounds to tackle Ebola.

Representatives of the diaspora recently met with members of the UN to discuss the ongoing situation in their home countries. They are by and large eager to assist and asked many questions on what they could do to help the people back home. They also thanked the UK and US governments for their assistance and financial support, as both nations have contributed significantly to the eradication efforts regarding Ebola. The UN representatives, in turn, recognized the vital role the diaspora can play in educating their friends and family back home, as well as in motivating them to seek appropriate treatment when necessary (3).

While the diaspora is in a difficult situation as refugees in foreign countries, they are managing to stay together as communities. They are also in better positions to become educated about Ebola and to take that message and education back to the people they know at home. This will prove crucial in helping to eradicate Ebola in all three affected countries. While the diaspora had to flee to protect themselves and their families, and they may not ever go home, depending on what happens in their home countries, they still have an important role to play in the Ebola fight. The UN has made sure they know how valuable they are to that fight and how much they are appreciated. This makes being part of the diaspora easier for them, and makes them feel they are contributing something to their home countries…and they really are contributing. The fight against Ebola would be a much harder uphill battle without them.

The Humanitarian Toll of Ebola in West Africa Continues

During the course of the Ebola outbreak, not only have nearly 10,000 people been killed, more than 3,300 children have been orphaned. Other people have died from causes indirectly related to Ebola as the health care system in these countries has collapsed under the strain of dealing with Ebola patients, or disappeared altogether as workers started staying away from work in order to avoid being infected with the disease.

The stigma associated with Ebola has made outcasts of many people who need assistance and medical care. Those affected are sometimes shunned from their communities and families. Other times, families take on the care of affected loved ones themselves, and end up infecting the whole family due to inadequate education on prevention measures.

Prior to the Ebola outbreak, all three affected nations had thriving economies. Now, it will take years, if not decades, for them to return to what they were. Prices are rising as incomes are disappearing. Malnutrition is becoming a big problem in these nations. Peace treaties with other nations are being undermined and peace within the nations themselves is becoming an issue in terms of maintaining it (4). This whole generation of children in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea will feel the effects of this Ebola outbreak for their whole lives.

The Ongoing Ebola Crisis in West Africa–A Final Call for International Attention

The sooner the Ebola outbreak in these countries can be brought to an end, the sooner the real recovery can begin. The broken health care establishments can begin to be rebuilt. People can start working, eating, and buying other necessities again. Children can go back to school. Peace and prosperity can begin to be re-established. It will take time, but it can be done.

The people of these countries are still suffering, but the international community has an unprecedented opportunity to help them recover what they have lost. In fact, the people of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are depending on the international community to help them end the outbreak of Ebola and rebuild the infrastructure of their nations. Ebola has destroyed more than human lives; it has destroyed three entire countries that now need to be rebuilt from the ground up.

So far, the international community has been exemplary in its generous assistance in these nations. However, much more still needs to be done, and for the necessary work to be accomplished, the people of the world need to be continually reminded and made aware that Ebola has not gone away. It is still an issue in these countries, and will be until enough people are brought in to the recovery effort to reach the critical mass of difference it will take to end the disease and build these nations back up again.

Sources

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