THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION Study  by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Charlotte Florance and Daniel J Kaniewski 

 April 24, 2015

Executive Summary

 This report presents the observations, findings, and recommendations of a task force formed to examine the global response and the response of the U.S. government (USG) to the 2013–2014 Ebola outbreak and global transmission. Specifically, the task force sought to derive lessons learned and insights from the USG response to the Ebola outbreak both internationally and domestically with the goal of crafting recommendations to improve the government’s ability to respond to natural disasters, acts of bioterrorism, and various public health crises related to significant outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics....

The report’s major recommendations include:

STARAFRICA.COM                                                                                 April 30, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria  --Governments in West Africa should improve health governance by scaling up investments in health infrastructure and human capital to ensure proactive responses against pandemics such as Ebola, a panel of discussants on Ebola has recommended.

A statement by the ECOWAS Commission on Thursday in Abuja said that the panelists at the debate on “Ebola; one year after,” organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Abuja on Tuesday, explained that such investments would engender effective preventive and preparedness initiatives and also address the weak health systems of countries in the region, which suffered the heaviest burden of the latest Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak...

In particular, they recommended that public education and sensitization as well as community mobilization, participation and vigilance must be sustained until the disease is totally eliminated. There should also be effective psycho-social support and reintegration programmes for survivors and children orphaned by the disease....

Read complete story.

Amid lingering disease fears and economic fallout, most children have stayed away from recently reopened schools.

 AL JAZEERA  by Tommy Trenchard                                                                    April 30, 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone -- 

...the most dramatic change since Ebola swept across the country last July - forcing the school system to shut down completely - was in the number of students.

Sixth-grade teacher Andrew Kabia writes Ebola prevention messages on a blackboard [Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera]

Out of a total of 150 pupils in class six, less than 20 actually turned up on a recent Tuesday. It is not unusual in Sierra Leone for the school year to start slowly, but this year's figures were extremely low. A week later, classrooms were still not even half full....

Between the restrictions on movement brought in to stem the spread of Ebola and the fear of markets and crowded spaces, small businesses everywhere have felt the pinch, leaving many families unable to continue supporting their children's education.

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE                                                                April 29, 2015
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today said that surveillance and community engagement still require improvement in some areas of Guinea and Sierra Leone where new cases continued to surface, a day after the new Special Representative for UN Ebola Response, Peter Graff, was informed of a continued transmission epicentre on the border between those two countries.

Mr. Graff joined outgoing Special Representative Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, on a visit to Freetown, Sierra Leone, during which they were briefed by the National Ebola response Centre (NERC) on efforts to achieve zero transmission.

“They were informed that Kambia District was still a transmission epicentre due in part to it neighbouring Forécariah in Guinea, which continues to record a high number of Ebola cases,” the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) reported.

WHO                                                                                                   April 29, 2015

Weekly report

                                  CLICK ON MAP IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE (1 page .PDF file)

Unbelievable devastating 7.9 rector scale earthquake hit in Nepal on 25
April 2015 and destroyed of property and loss of human
lives, infrastructures, cultural and religion heritages within a minute.
The death toll has reached 5,026. Over 10,227 people have been reported
injured. Rescue efforts are under way. Most of the people of affected areas
are staying outside of home because of fear.  People from the worst hit
districts of Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Gorkha and Dhading which are
surrounding districts of capital Kathmandu, have complained of delayed aid.

SCI DEVELOPMENT NET                                                                                April 29, 2015
(includes links to five feature stories and editorials on communication issues and other subjects.)
The outbreak of Ebola that has affected West Africa since December 2013 is the largest to date, with enormous human and economic costs. It has also exposed weaknesses in the global response system, including the handling of communication and complex social responses. What can we learn from this to better manage future health emergencies?

This Spotlight presents an in-depth analysis including opinions, facts and figures, and key resources. It features commentary by Sylvie Briand of the WHO, Rosamund Southgate of Médecins Sans Frontières and Annie Wilkinson of the Institute of Development Studies. 

It includes first-hand accounts by researchers with experience in the field, and interviews with social science expert Melissa Leach and communications managers at Médecins Sans Frontières-UK and BBC Media Action.
Read complete articles.

mohp.gov.np

The national Female Community Health Volunteer (FCHV) Program was introduced in 1988, under the Public Health Division of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Government of Nepal. By 1995, the program was established in all 75 districts.  FCHVs are currently assisting with primary health care activities and acting as a bridge between government health services and the community. They are local community women from various ethnic groups; 42 percent have never attended school.

Since inception of the program, FCHVs have served as frontline local health resource persons who provide community-based health education and services in rural areas, with a special focus on maternal and child health and family planning.

USAID - Nepal - Female Community Health Volunteers (4 page .PDF file)
http://jsi.com/JSIInternet/Inc/Common/_download_pub.cfm?id=12140&lid=3

USAID - Female Community Health Volunteers
http://blog.usaid.gov/2011/07/saving-lives-across-nepal-female-community-health-volunteers/

Image: A building and statue damaged by the April 25th quake.

irevolution.net - April 27th 2015

Digital Humanitarians are responding in full force to the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal. Information sharing and coordination is taking place online via CrisisMappers and on multiple dedicated Skype chats. The Standby Task Force (SBTF), Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT) and others from the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) have also deployed in response to the tragedy.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

THE GUARDIAN  by Sarah Boseley                                                                  April 28, 2015

Too many people are dying in Sierra Leone not from Ebola but as a result of the response to it, according to a report on the collapse of healthcare in the west African country.

Health workers at the Kerry Town Ebola treatment centre on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone, last November. Photograph: Francisco Leong/AFP/Getty Images

Ebola has killed at least 3,900 people in Sierra Leone so far, but the epidemic has critically damaged the ability of the country’s limited healthcare system to cope with anything else, including soaring HIV and tuberculosis rates.

More people are believed to have died from malaria than from Ebola, while deaths of mothers and babies in childbirth are thought to have risen significantly.

The epidemic may be nearing “zero cases” — but it's still disrupting the delivery of vaccines for measles, polio, and other deadly childhood diseases.

FOREIGN POLICY                                                                                                    April 27, 2015

by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, and Seth Berkley,  President and CEO of the Gavi vaccine alliance

When the Ebola epidemic in West Africa comes to an end, it will be marked by two simple words: “zero cases.” But this momentous milestone will also signal the beginning of a new struggle as the long and difficult process of recovering from a crisis that has claimed more than 10,000 lives commences. Ebola has not only drawn attention to the vast gap that exists between rich and poor nations; it has widened that divide too, setting the people of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea even further back. The opportunity to narrow and ultimately close this gap cannot be neglected.

ASSOCIATED PRESS by Maria Cheng                                                        April 28, 2015

LONDON — The World Health Organization says it aims to identify and isolate all new Ebola cases in West Africa by the end of May to stop the spread of the lethal virus before the rainy season.

In a new Ebola plan released on Tuesday, the U.N. health agency said it hopes to limit transmission of the virus to the coastal areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone before the rainy season begins, normally in April or May.

WHO said the decline in Ebola's spread has "plateaued," partly due to "persistently high transmission" in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Officials say the rainy season will make it more difficult for responders to reach remote areas....

NEW WORK TIMES                                            April 27, 2015

Here is a list of some of the groups soliciting donations for relief efforts in Nepal:

American Jewish World Service: ajws.org

AmeriCares: americares.org

The Salvation Army: salvationarmyusa.org

International Medical Corps: internationalmedicalcorps.org

Handicap International: handicap-international.us

NEW YORK TIMES  by Mark Scott                                                                          April 27, 2015

LONDON — International aid agencies and governments mobilized on Sunday to respond to the earthquake in Nepal, saying they faced challenges in getting assistance to the country and distributing it amid the widespread devastation there.

Displaced residents waiting in line to receive drinking water in Katmandu on Sunday. Credit Niranjan