Please take a moment to read the update and appeal from WAYout in Sierra Leone, regarding the Ebola crisis – please share with anyone else you think may be interested.
The crisis goes on and gets worse – because of the Ebola virus but also because of the the reaction to it.
The latest move by the Sierra Leonean government is to have a three day lock down. This has been broadly condemned as pointless by the international community, largely because the incubation period for Ebola can be up to 21 days. Every one is to stay home for that three days but no provision has been made for those who have no home and ‘gathering’ is now illegal. Street youth are frightened that they will be rounded up and imprisoned or just be on the run all day.
So WAYout is taking in those who have nowhere else to go. We will also be taking food out to the places where the street youth congregate. Tough times but so far everyone remains remarkably positive and creative.
The government has already closed down public meeting places like cafes, markets and clubs. These were the places where most of the street youth did their ‘hustle’, carrying loads or cleaning. For many, not just the street youth, earning a living is a hand to mouth, day by day process so many have lost their living and are struggling to find food. In response to this, WAYout has started feeding our members but that is a struggle for us as it is outside our usual activity and funding is always tight.
So we are appealing for your continued support in this difficult time. This ebola crisis has strained our resources and we continue to need your help.
The Ebola song has been very successful, adopted by GOAL and UNFAO and playing on local radio stations.
EBOLA CRISIS AND APPEAL – WAYout
There is still a lot of awareness raising to do. People are still unsure of how to avoid catching the Ebola virus and what the benefits of going to hospital early are. One of the many ways I realise how lucky we are with our general understanding of fighting disease, white blood cells, antibodies etc or our easy access to the internet if we don’t understand. There, there is largely just rumour, fear and guesswork. So we are producing an animation and a documentary to help people understand.
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And please do share with anyone you think may be interested.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
There have been around 4000 cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Almost half of those have survived.
The management of the crisis has set Sierra Leone back economically several years. The already fragile health care cannot cope. This latest measure to lockdown society for three days has created a tense and explosive environment.
Dr Christopher Dye of the WHO says “If current trends persist we would be seeing not hundreds of cases per week, but thousands of cases per week and that is terribly disturbing.” The World Health Organization is using an educated guess of 20,000 cases before the end and for the first time since the outbreak began, the majority of new cases are outside the epicentres. Officially the World Health Organization is saying the outbreak can be contained in six to nine months. But that is based on getting the resources to tackle the outbreak, which are currently stretched too thinly to contain Ebola.
Prof Neil Ferguson, the director of the UK Medical Research Council’s centre for outbreak analysis at Imperial College London, says “The authorities are completely overwhelmed. The epidemic is increasing, it’s still growing exponentially. This summer there have been many globally important news stories in Ukraine and the Middle East, but what we see unfolding in West Africa is a catastrophe to the population, killing thousands in the region and we’re now seeing a breakdown of the fragile healthcare system.” Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, describes the situation as “desperate”. His concern is that the virus is being given its first major opportunity to adapt to thrive in people.
The malaria season, which is generally in September and October in West Africa, is now starting. Will there be capacity to treat patients with malaria? Will people infected with malaria seek treatment if the nearest hospital is rammed with suspected Ebola cases? How will healthcare workers cope when malaria and Ebola both present with similar symptoms?
Sierra Leone Finance Minister Kaifala Marah told reporters “the Ebola crisis had devastated the economy, with growth projections pared back to single digits for the first time since the country’s mining boom started in 2011.”