Africa

Ebola: UN says health workers in Sierra Leone to receive hazard pay using mobile money

Wed, 2014-12-17 09:53 — mike kraft

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE Dec. 16, 2014
Response workers battling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will receive “hazard pay” for the first time in Sierra Leone using mobile money because “unless there is a certain element of incentives, or danger pay, it’s very difficult to attract and retain people,” the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced today.

Ambulance depot near an emergency response centre, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Ambulances and drivers have to be disinfected after each trip carrying suspected Ebola cases. UN Photo/Martine Perret

“One of the most difficult things about tackling the Ebola crisis is in the area of human resources,” said Sudipto Mukerjee, UNDP’s Country Director for Sierra Leone. “You can construct a treatment centre in a couple of months. You can construct a community care centre in two to three weeks. But getting trained people to come and run them has been a major challenge.”

The transition from direct cash to an electronic solution will help to improve overall efficiency, timeliness and security of payments for Ebola response workers, Mr. Mukerjee said.

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Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone announces house-to-house searches

Wed, 2014-12-17 07:46 — mike kraft

BBC Dec. 17, 2014

Sierra Leone is due to mount house-to-house searches in the capital Freetown to find hidden cases of Ebola.

President Ernest Bai Koroma also said that Sunday trading would be banned and travel between districts restricted.

The measures come after the authorities banned all public celebrations of Christmas and New Year in a bit to tackle the virus...

In his statement, President Koroma said the searches aimed to "break the chain of transmission", the AFP news agency reported.

He added: "Do not hide the sick".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30511208?utm_source=December+17+2014+EN&utm_campaign=12%2F17%2F2014&utm_medium=email

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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

Tue, 2014-12-16 16:57 — mike kraft

Update: Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic — West Africa, December 2014

CDC Dec. 16, 2014

...There were 4,281 new Ebola cases reported during the 4-week period of November 9–December 6, compared with the 2,705 new cases reported during the 3-week period of October 19–November 8.. Cases were widely distributed geographically among districts in all three countries, with the prefecture of Mamou in Guinea reported to be newly affected.

During both periods, counts of reported Ebola cases were highest in the area around Monrovia, including Grand Cape Mount, Liberia; the Western Area and northwest districts of Sierra Leone, particularly Bombali and Port Loko; and Conakry, Guinea .

Read Complete report.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm63e1216a1.htm?s_cid=mm63e1216a1_x

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Here’s How Much the Next Ebola Will Cost Us

Tue, 2014-12-16 16:33 — mike kraft

Why saving the environment can help prevent it

TIME MAGAZINE by Alexandra Sifferlin Dec. 16, 2014

The global community cannot withstand another Ebola outbreak: The World Bank estimates the two-year financial burden price tag of the current epidemic at $32.6 billion. Unfortunately, the virus has revealed gaping holes in our preparedness for major infectious disease epidemics. Because of these, plus the urbanization of rural communities and globalization of travel and trade, more of these epidemics are expected.

In a new report from the EcoHealth Alliance published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), experts estimate that the world will see about five new emerging infectious diseases each year and that we need new prevention strategies to cut economic losses.

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For Ebola Patients in Sierra Leone, Survival Takes More Than Medicine

Tue, 2014-12-16 16:17 — mike kraft

WIRED by Erika Check Hayden Dec. 16, 2014

BO, Sierra Leone—Morning rounds have just begun at an Ebola treatment center here in the city of Bo, in central Sierra Leone.

An Ebola management center run by Doctors Without Borders in Bo, Sierra Leone. Erika Check Hayden

The patients who are able shuffle out of a tent towards two layers of chain-link fence that separate them from the outside—2 meters minimum distance. Some clutch bottles of water, bright orange soda, or foil-wrapped nutritional bars. A woman in an orange printed wrap skirt lags behind the others, struggling to slide a sandal on to her foot. She came here in bad shape with her husband and three children, but she is improving; she was recently taken off intravenous fluids....

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Endless Ebola Epidemic? That's The 'Risk We Face Now,' CDC Says

Tue, 2014-12-16 11:25 — mike kraft

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO by Michaeleen Doucleff Dec. 16, 2014

Speed. That's key to ending the Ebola epidemic, says the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Thomas Frieden is visiting West Africa this week to figure out how to reduce the time it takes to find new Ebola cases and isolate them.

Otherwise, Ebola could become a permanent disease in West Africa.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks with Doctors Without Borders staff during a visit in August to an Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia. Tommy Trenchard for NPR

"That's exactly the risk we face now. That Ebola will simmer along, become endemic and be a problem for Africa and the world, for years to come," Frieden tells NPR. "That is what I fear most."

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Fewer Ebola Cases Go Unreported Than Thought, Study Finds

Tue, 2014-12-16 10:55 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES by Donald G. McNeil, Jr. Dec. 16, 2014

Transmission of the Ebola virus occurs mostly within families, in hospitals and at funerals, not randomly like the flu, Yale scientists said Tuesday, and far fewer cases go unreported than has previously been estimated.

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Ebola: UN forum urges debt relief for hard-hit countries, as search for faster diagnostics gets underway

Mon, 2014-12-15 20:46 — mike kraft

UNITED NATONS NEWS CENTRE Dec. 15, 2014
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) today recommended that creditors should seriously consider debt cancellation for the countries worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and also projected that even if those most affected were to register zero economic growth, the impact on Africa as a continent would be minimal.

With the cost of transport and goods going up and sales going down since the Ebola outbreak, vendors in Waterside Market, Monrovia, Liberia, are making no profit to support their families. Photo: UNDP/Morgana Wingard

“Educational systems, rising social stigma, unemployment, and decreased food security are some of the big issues that Ebola-affected countries must deal with,” according to study on the Socio-Economic Impacts of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) on Africa released today by the Addis-Ababa based UN regional forum.

In other news, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) announced that nine companies have made 19 submissions of proposed diagnostic tests for Ebola.

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An Ebola Orphan’s Plea in Africa: ‘Do You Want Me?’

Mon, 2014-12-15 17:27 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES by Jeffrey Gettleman Dec. 14, 2014
PORT LOKO, Sierra Leone --
...After her mother died, the young girl (four years old) stood outside the clinic’s gates looking around with enormous brown eyes. There was no one to pick her up. She was put on the back of a motorbike and taken to a group home, whose bare, dim hallways she now wanders alone. Social workers are trying to find someone to adopt her, and Sweetie Sweetie seems to know she is up for grabs.

On a recent day she asked a visitor: “Do you want me?”

Sweetie Sweetie, center, with other Ebola orphans at a group home in Sierra Leone. She is seen by neighbors as a potential carrier. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

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Health Care Worker Quarantine for Ebola: To Eradicate the Virus or Alleviate Fear?

Mon, 2014-12-15 13:57 — mike kraft

ANNALS OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE Dec. 11, 014
By Kristi Koenig, MD, Center for Disaster Medical Sciences, University of California at Irvine

Despite our global experience with emerging infectious diseases, politicians empowered with making health policy decisions and even some scientists have created confusion, fear, and stigmatization of health care workers by inconsistent use of quarantine....

Instead of trying to allay public fears by misapplication of quarantine, we should instead educate according to rigorous science and apply evidence-based policies and procedures. Modern technologies exist for robust public health monitoring that can replace an antiquated system of quarantine for exposed persons who have no potential to transmit disease before symptom onset. Health care workers who have cared for Ebola patients and are asymptomatic should not be restricted from work or other activities as long as they can be effectively monitored for symptoms and then isolated and tested if those develop. Politicians must heed their scientific advisors and not be swayed by misinformed public fear. In addition, we should seek out and apply these simple modern technologic solutions that maximize public health and safety.

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