UNMEER - Global Ebola Response... using one of my images!!!

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What We Need

Members of the Health For All Coalition in Sierra Leone, using megaphones and carrying illustrated posters, provide information on Ebola virus disease (EVD)
© UNICEF/Photographer: Stephen Douglas

To rise to the challenge ahead and to prevent the further spread of Ebola, a number of urgent requirements are needed critically on the ground.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released the Overview of Needs and Requirements  on 16 September 2014. It outlines the resources considered critical to effectively address the crisis across a range of objectives over the next six months by national governments, the World Health Organization, the UN agencies, funds and programmes, and some non-governmental organizations.

Priority requests

We have compiled a list of priority in-kind requirements for the Ebola response which will augment and multiply the impact of the resources identified by OCHA. This is now being shared with all Member States. These include:

• air lift, particularly helicopters, and maritime transport capabilities, fuel, vehicles
• mobile laboratory facilities capable of movement throughout affected countries;
• static non-Ebola medical clinics;
• emergency medical evacuation capability for movement of international aid workers potentially exposed to Ebola to locations for appropriate medical care;
• 3.3 million items of high quality personal protective equipment; training
• provision of Ebola Treatment Centres.

The UN will do its part, but this requires collective support. We are not only looking to Member States, but to a wide cross-section of actors and non-traditional partners, including the international business community.

Priority requests for private sector engagement

To contain spreading the Ebola, it is imperative we mobilize all resources and efforts. The upsurge in the response efforts by the private sector is welcome; but we must do more, and we must do it faster. For this reason we are turning also to private sector to engage with the overall Ebola outbreak response. Refer to Business Engagement Guide if you are a private sector actor wishing to contribute to these efforts.

Trust Fund

The UN has established the Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund, which will ensure a coherent UN system contribution to the overall Ebola outbreak response. The Fund is guided by the strategic priorities set out in the OCHA Overview of Needs and Requirements, totalling almost $1 billion.The Trust Fund seeks contributions from Member States, regional legislative bodies, inter-governmental or nongovernmental organizations, businesses and individuals. If you would like to contribute please go to http://mptf.undp.org/ebola. 

You can also contribute to the United Nations Foundation Ebola Response Fund.

CANADIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO DATE – EBOLA OUTBREAK RESPONSE

I'm proud of what the Canadian government is doing for West Africa... and very glad to read that nothing has been donated directly to the Sierra Leone government. Support to WHO, Red Cross and MSF is vital... and absolutely the right way to go. I've seen the work of these organizations first hand... and believe they're doing everything in their power to help the people affected by Ebola. 

Here's what the Cdn government is doing... as of October 3, 2014

Financial contributions:

· On September 25, the Minister of International Development announced up to $30 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help meet the immediate needs of the people affected by the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

· This support will be provided to experienced humanitarian partners within the United Nations system, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement—including the Canadian Red Cross Society—and other Canadian and international non-governmental organizations.

· This funding is in addition to the $5.4 million previously committed by the Government of Canada in support of humanitarian and security interventions to address the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa, including funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Technical contributions:

· The Public Health Agency of Canada has deployed teams of experts to Sierra Leone to assist in the response on the ground.

· The current team of Agency scientists has re-established a mobile laboratory at the Kailahun site in Sierra Leone to provide rapid diagnostic support, which will help ensure that those infected with Ebola receive supportive care and are isolated to reduce the risk of transmission. The team is working alongside local health officials, MSF, and the WHO for this important humanitarian effort. Another Agency scientist is currently providing laboratory support for the response to the separate Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

· Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada is also covering the costs for four Canadian Red Cross delegates deployed to Guinea and Sierra Leone as well as seven experts deployed to Sierra Leone and Liberia to support UNICEF.

· On September 15, Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced that Canada will make available for donation over $2.5 million in personal protective equipment (PPE) to the WHO.

Experimental vaccine:

· Canada is also donating between 800-1,000 doses of the experimental vaccine, VSVEBOV, to the WHO. The final number of doses provided will be based on the amount required for applied research and clinical trials.

· The Public Health Agency of Canada is providing the vaccine to the WHO in its role as an international coordinating body, in the hopes that the doses can be made available as an international resource.

· The WHO, in consultation with partners, including the health authorities from the affected countries, will guide and facilitate how the vaccine should be distributed and used.

Sierra Leone is fighting a war against an unseen, proliferating virus

Ebola: Sierra Leone is fighting a war against an unseen, proliferating virus

The country is struggling to keep up as the death tolls mounts and its people struggle to survive

• Stephen Douglas
• The Observer, Sunday 12 October 2014
• Jump to comments (6)

A boy under quarantine sits behind a cordon outside his house in Moyamba town on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Michael Duff/AP

As evening fell, localised lightning illuminated the palm trees and mango trees along the Atlantic coast beach near Aberdeen, a western neighbourhood in Freetown. These are the remnants of a long rainy season that will soon finish. The flashes in the sky and the booming thunder were not mortar shells or rocket launchers.

The sound of an approaching helicopter shook the foundations of small homes and commercial storefronts as it hovered and landed at a small airstrip near downtown Freetown. The black and white “reverend” birds bid a hasty retreat. The beating blades slowed and the flags settled back into their drowsy droop. There were no soldiers on board the UN’s helicopter, but men in dark suits and gleaming white shirts emerged to stroll across the tarmac to a line of waiting SUVs. The helicopter and vehicles are not military issue.

The traffic slows and the crowds thicken as vehicles approach the third checkpoint on a stretch of road just outside the eastern boundaries of Freetown. Street hawkers offer bananas, boiled eggs and cold drinks to passengers and drivers. Police and military personnel guide vehicles, cars, trucks and non-governmental SUVs to one side of the road and ask occupants to slip down and proceed to a tarp-covered shack beside the metal barricades. Travellers are asked to wash their hands and submit to an infrared thermometer temperature check. Security forces are not looking for weapons or rebels but for a possibly more deadly opponent – the Ebola virus.

In an address to a World Bank round table, the president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, stated “… the fight on the ground in Sierra Leone urgently needs the support of people gathered here today to combat this virus; without you we cannot succeed, without your quick response, a tragedy unforeseen in modern times would threaten the wellbeing and compromise the security of people everywhere.”

Is Sierra Leone at war? Despite the war-like language – “fight”, “combat”, “tragedy” – Sierra Leone is not fighting itself or a visible, hostile enemy. Sierra Leone is racing against an unseen, proliferating virus. “This is a race to get ahead of this evil virus; this is a race for all of us,” said the president. Sierra Leone is not sprinting, but readying itself for a marathon.

On Friday 10 October, Sierra Leone recorded its highest official number of deaths in one day – 140. Body retrieval teams, laboratories and gravediggers work at a furious pace. Treatment centres are being constructed across the nation. Nurses are busy with training sessions … and treating patients. Seaports and airports are overwhelmed by incoming supplies from China, Britain, Cuba, the US and Europe.

At the moment Sierra Leone is behind in the race. At the moment the international community, local institutions and organisations are lagging. And, like a tiring racer, the country is struggling to keep up.

Juliet Nyanah Manna, 32, runs a small “tarp and stick” cookery shop on the beach near Lumley in the west of Freetown. Manna’s business has slowed to a trickle … a slowly retreating tide that has her wondering when she’ll get her next meal or pay her rent. “Business is slow. People are not out. And even when people come for drinks the police drive them away insisting ‘No gathering. This is a state of emergency’,” she says. Manna is a single mother and she’s looking for other business opportunities. She says: “I have to change my business to find money.”

Across the beach road from her cookery shop is a long line of mall shops and restaurants. All of the windows are boarded up. It feels and looks a bit like a ghost town or a cold, deserted resort locale. The parking area along the street is bereft of vehicles and street traffic is almost non-existent. Manna lists on her fingers, as she points up and down the street, all the shop owners who’ve left the country and abandoned their businesses. She stays because she has very few other options.

Mary Kamara, 43, was an education programme assistant with a local NGO before the first cases of Ebola were reported in the country. She is now unemployed. Her NGO was funded by an international NGO which is now channeling all its funding to Ebola-related activities. “When this sickness happened,” says Kamara, “I knew I had to find another way to support my family.” She is now selling used clothes and has found a niche market in her small community. Kamara’s sister, Isha, buys a large bale of “junx” (clothes donated to organisations in the US, UK, or Canada and imported to Sierra Leone) from a Lebanese businessman in downtown Freetown. Together, Mary and Isha sort the clothes and pile bundles of T-shirts, sweaters and jeans on their heads. Every day the sisters head out into their community, stopping at porches, kitchens and laundry areas. “We can make enough to buy more used clothes and a bag of rice with other provisions,” says Kamara. “We have to because we need to survive.”

Samuel Koroma, a father of three, is a local photographer. The bulk of his income, less than £4 a day, derives from providing passport pictures – necessary for almost everything, including opening bank accounts and submitting job applications. “These days,” says Koroma, “there’s no business on the street. So I’m trying to get contracts to photograph for the UN or NGOs.” Koroma recently untethered his battered, five-year-old Canon camera to take photographs of a training session for young people held by a local NGO. “I’m trying to get into a different market because that’s where the money is these days,” he says.

Manna, Kamara and Koroma have adapted to life under the Ebola crisis. They are part of the race and are continuing to pursue the finish line where survival is everything. The next meal, the next month’s rent, some prescription medicine, a pair of sandals, replacing a worn-out shirt or paying for public transport are pressing priorities.

Manna is not as optimistic. But she and others are resilient, persistent and not without hope. “Only God can help us,” she says, “and when this is all over, we will be OK.”

Stephen Douglas is a Canadian media development consultant and journalist based in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Fair warning... but I'm staying.

Travel.gc.ca - Travel Advice for Canadians

29 mins · 

We advise against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, due to the Ebola outbreak. Canadians should consider leaving by commercial means while these are still available. The Government of Canada's ability to provide consular assistance is extremely limited in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Access to medical services may be scarce. Should you require medical evacuation, service availability is limited and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you would assume sole responsibility for any costs. The Government of Canada cannot guarantee access to medical evacuation services. See Health for more details.

Country Travel Advice and Advisories

Country Travel Advice and Advisories from the Government of Canada.

TRAVEL.GC.CA

Violence? Okada riders take to the streets... and not in a good way.

Today, Thursday the 9th of October, a "brother" okada rider (motorcycle taxis) was tragically killed while trying to escape the police and their "task force" of boys who used to be okada riders. Violence and rioting erupted on the downtown streets of Freetown as throngs of fellow okada riders and friends took to the streets. Police fired tear gas and live rounds to disburse crowds.

Earlier today, I was in downtown Freetown, on my little motorbike, and talked to several of the whip/cane armed police. They were stationed along Siaka Stevens Street, the main commercial street in downtown... and they meant to cleanse the streets of "lawless okada riders". There were literally hundreds of police personnel...

I asked the question... "why?" and was told two things... One, the President was set to drive down the road in his 14 vehicle convoy to the World Bank offices to make a video conference appearance. Two, so the many visitors wouldn't encounter the congestion and lawlessness of the streets - namely okada riders, while they visited Freetown.

Good grief... I again asked, "if you have a pimple... and a broken leg, which one do you deal with first?"

Ebola is ravaging this country... and the police are worried about some traffic congestion and "lawless" okada riders??? Again, I'd rather have a HUNDRED "lawless" okada riders than ONE rotten, thieving politician.

The prisons are full of okada riders... and taxi drivers. This GoSL policy (or lack of) around public transportation drives me nuts... and I'm sure drives others a little crazy too. Yes, pun intended.

We don't need to be dealing with a few bad apples amongst the thousands of okada riders who are trying to feed their families and/or care for mothers, fathers, children, aunties or uncles. Sheesh.

Priorities!!!! Please!!!!

"Ebola has called our bluff..." says, a top UN official

For years now, since the end of the war in 2002, international organizations like the UN, World Bank, European Union, DfiD, IMF, African Development Bank... and others, have supported Sierra Leone. Literally, billions of dollars have flowed into and out of this country... in the name of "aid". And, where are we now???

According to a top UN official... "Ebola has called our bluff". The UN, including Ban Ki-Moon, have praised Sierra Leone for it's "development trajectory". Well, we're now learning just how rotten the system really was!! All that money spent on development to the healthcare sector (lead by DfiD and the EU) was for what???? A broken system. All that money spent on education (lead by UNICEF and others) was for what??? A generation, or two, of illiterate, under-educated Sierra Leoneans. All that money spent on security/police (lead by DfiD and others) was for what??? A security sector that can't adequately respond to the needs of a country in a crisis.

Indeed, the sins of the past are now haunting us. Indeed, the bluff is blown and the sad truth has been revealed. Proving... what? International aid systems are flawed. International organizations lie to save face and justify their financial appeals. Local governments have to be held accountable... or NO MORE MONEY to pad their own pockets.

It's so sad... to realize the horrendous state of the country... after all those years of "development aid". What went wrong? I'm sure some smart PhD candidate will explore the downfalls and pitfalls of funding a country of 6 million... that's resource rich yet at the bottom of the human development index.

In my opinion... corruption is at the root of the problems... and the international community has themselves to blame!! In my opinion... the international community has a lot to answer for!!! And, the country governance structures have a lot to account for!!

The truth is emerging... even as Sierra Leone fights for its very survival amidst the Ebola crisis.

A risky job... covering the Ebola story in West Africa

COVERING THE EBOLA STORY: JOURNALISM A RISKY JOB IN WEST AFRICA

OCTOBER 5, 2014 SARAH BOMKAPRE KAMARA LEAVE A COMMENT

By Sarah Bomkapre Kamara

American freelance journalist Ashoka Mukpo, this month became the first journalist to have been diagnosed with Ebola.

(Picture: Reuter’s video Journalist in Sierra Leone Idriss kpange ready to visit an isolation center. Credit: Idriss Kpange)

A member of the NBC News team, Mr. Mukpo will enjoy the same facility every American who contracted the virus enjoys – he will be flown to his country for proper treatment which will eventually lead to his recovery. A good thing to know but, his contracting the deadly Ebola virus sent chills down my spine and left me thinking about the many local and western journalists in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone who come in contact daily with people to tell their stories. Sometimes these journalists have to go into communities that have been hit by the virus and are quarantined. They can dress up well with protective clothes to go into these high risk areas but what about their equipments? Their cameras, audio recorders and more? What happens to them if they contract this deadly virus like everyone who has? How are these journalists taking care of themselves whilst on duty?

(Picture: Canadian journalist Stephen Douglas took this selfie after observing a training  session for health workers on precautions in treating Ebola patients. Credit: Stephen Douglas)

In just two months it will be a year since the hemorrhagic fever Ebola virus was first diagnosed in Guinea, West Africa. Since then we have continually received news reports on how each community, society and country is doing. Some journalists especially local journalists on the ground were one of the first to report these stories. Stories of death, tragedy and even survival. Even though many of them didn’t quite know what Ebola was, didn’t have training on what they should do or not do, and had serious logistical problems (as always), many risked it anyway.

They went into Ebola hit communities, the firsts of which were not easily accessible areas most times without good roads, to get more information on the progress of the disease, visiting     isolation units and giving out educational information about the disease. Some of these journalist have lost their lives whilst on duty like some colleagues found dead along with other health workers last month in Guinea believed to have been killed by the people. What were they doing in this community? Working together with health workers to ensure the right stories are told that will eventually prevent more deaths from Ebola.

(Picture: DW correspondent Julius Kanubah interviews an ebola survivor in Liberia. Credit: Julius Kanubah)

Many at times during this crisis, we worry about the lives of the health and aid workers in this region. That is legitimate as they are the ones working day and night to care for the sick and suffering making them the highest risk groups, vulnerable to contracting Ebola. But like health and aid workers, news-makers and reporters too risk their lives daily. Going into rundown communities, visiting isolation centers and interviewing health workers, all in a bid to show the world the pictures and tell the stories that many people living out of these areas can only think about.

A journalist colleague for example interviewed a medical doctor in Sierra Leone just a few weeks before he tested positive for the virus whilst another visited an area in Liberia that has been quarantined and labelled a high risk area. Every single day journalists come in contact with people as their work requires that – making them also vulnerable to the disease and adding them to the list of one of the high risk jobs during this epidemic.

(Picture: BBC World Service Trust reporter Mariama Khai Fornah interviewing Dr. Mohamed Alex Vandy, District Medical Officer in Kenema, one of the worst hit regions in Sierra Leone. Credit: Mariama Khai Fornah)

I salute the bravery of our journalists in these three worst hit countries and other countries in Africa. I also salute international journalists who leave their comfort zones in developed countries risking their lives to tell the stories in places where no one wants to go at the moment. For me just like the health and aid workers, our journalists deserve to be applauded. They are part of the unsung heroes in this fight to contain the Ebola epidemic and improve the lives of people in these communities and countries. They work under pressure, stress and unbelievable conditions.  Their job does not entail telling their own stories but others’ stories, sharing valuable information whilst serving as checks and balances in monitoring governments’ actions in this period. They are an important contingent in the war against this virus!

(Picture: Journalist Idriss Kpange getting dressed before an interview with isolated Ebola patients. Credit: Idriss Kpange)

Just like Mr. Mukpo, we do not wish that any more journalists contract Ebola in the line of duty, but we cannot rule out the fact that this might be any journalist. I do wish Mr. Mukpo is evacuated as soon as possible for treatment in the US but I am not forgetting the other journalists on the ground at the moment – especially the local journalists who might not have the luxury of been taken out for treatment in case they contract this dreadful disease.

I implore governments and other agencies to please ensure they are treated right like other jobs deemed high risk professions in Ebola hit countries. I do hope news organisations are taking great care in ensuring their workers are protected too. Practicing Journalism is risky at this time in West Africa but all I can say to our colleagues both local and international is take all precautions you can while carrying out your duties as journalists.  Stay safe!

Sarah Bomkapre Kamara is a Media Researcher and Multi Media                Journalist living in Germany.  Her research interests include Journalism     Cultures, Human Rights Journalism, Media Ethics and more. She has worked for media in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Germany.

What we know about transmission of the Ebola virus among humans

From the WHO situation report

 

Ebola situation assessment - 6 October 2014

 

The Ebola virus is transmitted among humans through close and direct physical contact with infected bodily fluids, the most infectious being blood, faeces and vomit.

The Ebola virus has also been detected in breast milk, urine and semen. In a convalescent male, the virus can persist in semen for at least 70 days; one study suggests persistence for more than 90 days.

Saliva and tears may also carry some risk. However, the studies implicating these additional bodily fluids were extremely limited in sample size and the science is inconclusive. In studies of saliva, the virus was found most frequently in patients at a severe stage of illness. The whole live virus has never been isolated from sweat.

The Ebola virus can also be transmitted indirectly, by contact with previously contaminated surfaces and objects. The risk of transmission from these surfaces is low and can be reduced even further by appropriate cleaning and disinfection procedures.

Not an airborne virus
Ebola virus disease is not an airborne infection. Airborne spread among humans implies inhalation of an infectious dose of virus from a suspended cloud of small dried droplets.

This mode of transmission has not been observed during extensive studies of the Ebola virus over several decades.

Common sense and observation tell us that spread of the virus via coughing or sneezing is rare, if it happens at all. Epidemiological data emerging from the outbreak are not consistent with the pattern of spread seen with airborne viruses, like those that cause measles and chickenpox, or the airborne bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

Theoretically, wet and bigger droplets from a heavily infected individual, who has respiratory symptoms caused by other conditions or who vomits violently, could transmit the virus – over a short distance – to another nearby person.

This could happen when virus-laden heavy droplets are directly propelled, by coughing or sneezing (which does not mean airborne transmission) onto the mucus membranes or skin with cuts or abrasions of another person.

WHO is not aware of any studies that actually document this mode of transmission. On the contrary, good quality studies from previous Ebola outbreaks show that all cases were infected by direct close contact with symptomatic patients.

No evidence for mutation of this virus
Moreover, scientists are unaware of any virus that has dramatically changed its mode of transmission. For example, the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has caused sporadic human cases since 1997, is now endemic in chickens and ducks in large parts of Asia.

That virus has probably circulated through many billions of birds for at least two decades. Its mode of transmission remains basically unchanged.
Speculation that Ebola virus disease might mutate into a form that could easily spread among humans through the air is just that: speculation, unsubstantiated by any evidence.

This kind of speculation is unfounded but understandable as health officials race to catch up with this fast-moving and rapidly evolving outbreak.
To stop this outbreak, more needs to be done to implement – on a much larger scale – well-known protective and preventive measures. Abundant evidence has documented their effectiveness.

New York TImes piece... says a lot

"In many ways, the delay reflects what some in the growing ranks of international officials pouring into this nation to fight Ebola describe as a chaotic, disorganized government response to the epidemic."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/world/africa/sierra-leone-ebola-medical-supplies-delayed-docks.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article&_r=0

“It’s a mess,” said one foreign official working alongside the Sierra Leone government agency set up to deal with the crisis. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to maintain vital relations with the government, said that nobody appeared to be in charge at the agency, known as the “emergency operations center,” and that different factions made decisions independently.

The government official who pleaded for the supplies to be let in argued that the epidemic, “like the war we experienced between 1991 and 2002,” had exposed the extent of government corruption.

The more urgent the pleas, the official said, the more it “elicited only disdain from some people in authority.”

Internews... in Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, Journalists Support Ebola Information during Lockdown

          

Posted on Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Medical workers in Sierra Leone decontaminate after transporting people who have contracted Ebola. (credit: Stephen Douglas)

When the President of Sierra Leone announced a national three-day lockdown on September 18, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Independent Radio Network (IRN) sprang into action.

Most Sierra Leoneans complied with the order and stayed at home, tuning into their radios religiously.

During the 36-hour-3-day, broadcast marathon, over 25 guests were interviewed from the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders (MSF), task forces, operation centers, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), government ministries, religious organizations and a host of others. The voices of those staying at home had to be recorded on location because travel during the three days was severely restricted. Up to 40 radio stations participated from west to east and north to south.

“I'd say at this stage 100% of the population know that a deadly disease has struck Sierra Leone,” said Internews Media Development Consultant, Stephen Douglas, who has been working with journalists in the country during the Ebola crisis. “They may not know [everything about Ebola], but they know there's a disease in Sierra Leone, a disease that kills. I'd also say that radio has played a significant role in this goal. SLAJ and IRN were on air for 13 hours a day. They added to the sensitization and awareness tremendously.”

During the lockdown period, journalists followed sensitizing teams of volunteers from door-to-door, they followed burial teams, and they visited hospitals and treatment centers even in remote areas of the country.

Conditions for Ebola patients are dire in Sierra Leone where there are few facilities for treatment and medical staff have little training or experience dealing with Ebola. Protective equipment is also inadequate.

Mohamed Faray Kargbo, a local journalist who participated in the broadcast, wrote on Facebook, “The indispensable role of IRN has once again been manifested, this time, in the war against a seemingly invincible yet invisible enemy – Ebola. Let me hasten to observe that no better collaboration could have been done than the one with the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists.”

Douglas said on Sunday evening, the final day of the shutdown, a youthful cleric preached a bit of gospel during an interview. The pastor called upon listeners to stand up and shout praise. “And even from inside, you could hear the city erupt with audible shouts, pot-lid banging, singing and prayers: a testament to the number of listeners tuned in to the broadcasts.”

Internews’ work in Sierra Leone is supported by the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation.