Ebola: Getting to Zero, Staying at Zero
July 24, 2015
World Health Organization
Co-authored by Kayla White and Dan Klotz
Dr. Philip Ireland has experienced the Ebola epidemic from two different angles: he is a Liberian physician and Ebola survivor. When he fell ill, his colleagues in Monrovia, Liberia, wrote off his symptoms as malaria, which Ireland knew wasn’t accurate. He’d had malaria many times.
He and his mother took matters into their own hands. She quarantined him in his own home until he was finally admitted for treatment.
The health systems of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea were fragile before the epidemic grew rampant, and the massive outbreak quickly indicated their lack of preparedness to combat the disease’s spread. The possibility of a rapid and successful emergency response starts with a strong health system, which none of the affected countries had.
In the lead-up to the UN Secretary General’s International Ebola Recovery Conference in early July, the World Health Organization (WHO) held a teleconference to stress the importance of global participation to rebuild the health systems and infrastructures of these more vulnerable nations. As we witnessed in the summer of 2014 when the Ebola epidemic was at its worst, the disease traveled to other countries such as Spain and the United States and launched widespread panic.
Global action is required, not just regional action, since our interconnectedness can quickly turn a regional health crisis into a global one. As Dr. Philip Ireland says, “national pride will not stop a viral outbreak on its own.”
Days after the teleconference, countries began making pledges of hundreds of millions of dollars for the recovery effort. A total of $3.4 billion was raised, exceeding the original goal of $3.2 billion in pledges. The Ebola epidemic may have slowed in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, but the world has accelerated its efforts to rebuild.
To learn more about Dr. Ireland’s story and the efforts needs for Ebola recovery, check out the video and stories below:
Redemption of an Ebola-hit hospital in Monrovia—BBC (UK)
Ebola Resurgence: WHO Calls For Resilient Health Systems—Leadership (Nigeria)
Bolster health systems in poor countries or see another Ebola—New Scientist (USA)
