(task) Ebola Thrives in Brittle West African Health Systems

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> From: Rob Ewers <globalhealth@email-chathamhouse.org>
> Subject: Ebola Thrives in Brittle West African Health Systems
> Date: October 9, 2014 at 10:03:00 AM EDT
> To: "michael.d.mcdonald@mac.com" <michael.d.mcdonald@mac.com>
> Reply-To: Rob Ewers <re-1TYE-2VE2D-BM8UQB-BZOWV@email-chathamhouse.org>
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> New Centre on Global Health Security Expert Comment
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> EXPERT COMMENT
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> Ebola Thrives in Brittle West African Health Systems
> Michael Edelstein | Research Fellow | Centre on Global Health Security
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> Understand Ebola as one of the worst health crises of recent times imposed on some of the world’s weakest health systems. The scale of the current West African Ebola outbreak, which has killed more people than all other recorded Ebola outbreaks combined (over 3,400 as of 3 October), is not only the result of a slow and insufficient response from the international community. It is the result of decades of underfunded healthcare systems with no governance, the consequence of poverty, war, corruption and political instability.
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> Developed countries have the capacity to rapidly identify, isolate and monitor suspected cases and their contacts, as well as to safely treat sick cases, which will prevent ongoing transmission to members of the community or to healthcare workers. The case reported in the US on 30 September will likely infect only a very small number of individuals as a worst case scenario.
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> By contrast, in the affected West African nations, suspected cases remain in the community, infect relatives and healthcare workers and dead bodies lie in houses for days before they are collected. Entire families, sometimes entire communities, have been decimated. In addition, at least in Liberia, recent memories of the civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003) and high levels of corruption have exacerbated mistrust in the government and fostered conspiracy theories, in turn decreasing population compliance with official advice.
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> Rob Ewers
> Programme Coordinator - Centre on Global Health Security
> rewers@chathamhouse.org
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