Liberia, Ravaged by Ebola, Faces a Future Without It

NEW YORK TIMES  by Normitsu Onishia                                                             May 9, 2015          

...“I am thrilled by the significant progress made by the people of Liberia,” said Tolbert Nyenswah, a deputy health minister. But, he warned, “we still need to keep up vigilance.”

The weak health systems in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three nations hit hardest by the disease, did more than just crumple in the face of Ebola’s onslaught last year. They played a central role in spreading the disease.

Clinics routinely misdiagnosed the disease and discharged Ebola patients with pills for common illnesses. Infected health care workers passed the virus to their colleagues, families and communities.

Local and international health officials are now focusing on extinguishing the waning Ebola epidemic in Guinea and Sierra Leone. But they have a bigger goal as well: shoring up beleaguered health systems that were inadequate long before Ebola struck.

“I don’t want to call Ebola an opportunity, but we’re using the experience of Ebola to try to rebuild our health systems,” said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia....

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/world/africa/liberia-ravaged-by-ebola-faces-a-future-without-it.html