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Health in Africa

  • World Bank and international donors must find $1.7 billion to improve dangerously inadequate health systems in Ebola countries

    AFRICA, 2015/04/18 The World Bank and international donors must find $1.7 billion to improve dangerously inadequate health systems in Ebola-affected nations and help prevent such a deadly epidemic ever happening again said Oxfam today on the eve of Ebola talks at the Bank's annual spring meetings in Washington DC. The money is the minimum needed to make health care freely available to all in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and neighbouring Guinea-Bissau and would go towards paying for well-equipped facilities, sufficient trained staff and medical supplies and robust health data systems that build upon the stronger community networks presently in place. Guinea-Bissau has not from presently on had any Ebola cases but is particularly at risk from porous borders and poor resources.

  • Obama - Ebola Still a Danger

    GUINEA-BISSAU, 2015/04/17 President Barack Obama says there has been "great evolution" in the fight against Ebola in West Africa, but warns the international community must remain vigilant until the virus is wiped out. Obama on Wednesday met with the leaders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the nations most devastated by last year's outbreak, to assess the evolution and talk about recovery efforts. The strides those nations have made, with help from the United States, is evident. Next killing 10,000 people in the region, the Ebola epidemic is down to fewer than 40 new cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Liberia has no registered new cases.

  • Vice President of Sierra Leone Subjects Himself to 21 Days Ebola Quarantine

    SIERRA LEONE, 2015/03/05 Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana of Sierra Leone has put himself in 21 day quarantine, following the death of one of his security guards from Ebola. Sumana is Africa’s initial high ranking official to be subject to a voluntary quarantine. He decided to quarantine himself for 21 days next the death of John Koroma from Ebola last Tuesday. This highlights the rise of new cases in the country, which has experienced a setback in curbing the spread of the virus. In an interview with Reuters, Sam-Sumana said his decision to be quarantined stemmed from the principle of leading by example, and the fact that he doesn’t want to leave anything to luck. “I have decided to be put under quarantine because I do not want to take chances and I want to lead by example. I am very well and showing no signs of illness.”

  • Demand for this Ebola Drug is Soaring

    AFRICA, 2015/03/05 Shigetaka Komori, the CEO of Fujifilm Holdings, on Tuesday said about 20 nations have shown interest in Avigan, an Ebola drug developed by Fujifilm’s subsidiary, Toyama Chemical. The interest from these nations grew rapidly because Avigan has shown signs of efficacy against the Ebola virus, which has killed about 9,500 people in West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Komori told Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in an interview that the company is likely to take large orders for the drug. “We can provide as much as we are asked for,” Komori told WSJ at the weekend, adding his company had enough capacity to manufacture pills for 300 000 people and additional.

  • Cote d'Ivoire: Ebola Isn't Dead, These Radio Stations Know Only Too Well

    ABIDJAN, 2015/02/14 Just like all other media phenomena, the "Ebola buzz" in Ivory Coast was only short-lived. But against a backdrop of silence, the media and community radio stations in the West of the country are continuing their crusade to raise awareness about the disease. Ever since the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic, they have expressed their concerns about the risks of contamination. "They" are the people in western Ivory Coast, who live close to the borders with Liberia, Mali and Guinea. Far from Abidjan, the economic capital of the Ivory Coast, the inhabitants of the regions closest to the epicentre of the health crisis remain worried about the virus. Although there are no "Lather against Ebola" challenges and people are not heard singing the "Stop Ebola" song in the streets of communities in the West, people are still very alert to the dangers related to the disease.

  • Liberia: Nimba Citizens On the Alert

    LIBERIA, 2015/02/14 Residents of Nimba County are said to be on the alert following reports of the outbreak of Ebola in a Guinean town that borders Nimba County. The alertness of the residents came next the County's Medical Director, Dr. Bowah Collins, speaking on Radio RK FM in Ganta last Weekend, disclosed the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Lorla Town in the Republic of Guinea. Dr. Bowah Collins told citizen in Nimba to be very careful particularly those traveling to Lorla Town in Guinea to purchase local commodities. He said the Ebola virus has killed several people in Lorla near the Liberian border.

  • Guinea: Red Cross Red Crescent Denounces Continued Violence Against Volunteers Working to Stop the Spread of Ebola

    GUINEA, 2015/02/14 The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is deeply concerned about continued violence perpetrated against its volunteers in Guinea. Due to the fear and mistrust surrounding Ebola virus disease, Red Cross staff and volunteers have regularly been attacked by scared communities. The majority recent incident took place on Sunday 8 February in the town of Forécariah, Western Guinea. Two Red Cross volunteers were beaten while attempting to provide a safe and dignified burial in the community. An average of ten attacks per month have been committed against Red Cross volunteers in Guinea since July 2014, ranging from verbal to physical assaults.

  • Chancellor Pledges $50m to Help Countries Fighting Ebola

    GUINEA, 2015/02/13 UK becomes initial country to pledge to a new IMF trust to relieve deficit caused by Ebola. The UK will continue its international leadership in the response to the Ebola outbreak by becoming the initial country to pledge to a new IMF trust to relieve deficit caused by the virus. The Chancellor has today announced that the UK will contribute $50m to a new IMF fund to relieve the burden of deficit caused by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. The IMF's new Catastrophe Containment and Relief (CRR) Trust was launched last week. Its initial role will be to provide grant aid that will be used for relief on deficit service payments to the IMF for the three nations most affected by the ongoing Ebola epidemic: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The nations will be able to access funds to enable them to cover upcoming repayments to the IMF for two years, allowing them to redirect those resources to fighting the outbreak, and repairing their economies and societies.

  • Ebola Vaccine Trial Begins in Liberia

    LIBERIA, 2015/02/04 A large clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of two experimental vaccines to prevent Ebola virus infection is presently open to volunteers in Liberia. The trial is being led by a recently formed Liberia-U.S. clinical research partnership and is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. A release said the Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia or PREVAIL, a Phase 2/3 study, is designed to enroll approximately 27,000 healthy men and women aged 18 years and older.

  • New Ebola Cases Reported in Liberia

    LIBERIA, 2015/02/04 Health authorities in Liberia have identified new Ebola cases in the capital, Monrovia, a day next a study of experimental vaccines against the virus was launched in the country. Assistant Health Minister and chief of Liberia's incident management system, Tolbert Nyensuwah, told journalists in Monrovia on Monday that five confirmed cases had been reported around Monrovia over the completed seven days. According to Minister Nyensuwah, the cases were reported from three communities in the western suburbs of the capital.
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