Emergency aid aims to improve
medical supplies and staff wages as
Liberian health care system shuts
down out of fear .The World Bank has
pledged $ 200m to help contain the
deadly Ebola virus , with the growing
crisis forcing healthcare system in
Liberia to shut down out of fear of
staff contracting the virus .
The World Bank said on Monday that
it would provide up to $200 m in
emergency assistance to Guinea ,
Liberia , and Sierra Leone to help the
West African nations contain the
deadly outbreak which has killed 887
since the outbreak began in March
this year.
Jim Yong Kim , World Bank
president , himself an expert on
infectious diseases , said he has been
monitoring the spread of the virus
and was “ deeply saddened ” at how it
was contributing to the breakdown of
“ already weak health systems in the
three countries ” .
The funding will help provide medical
supplies , pay healthcare staff , and
take care of other priorities to contain
the epidemic and try to prevent
future outbreaks , the World Bank
said .
The announcement came as health
centres in Liberia’ s capital city of
Monrovia shut down because medical
personnel became too afraid to turn
up to work , the Associated Press news
agency reported.Both Liberia’ s and
Sierra Leone ’ s top Ebola doctors lost
their lives to the disease after caring
for numerous people.
Healthcare personnel in Liberia say
they have not received sufficient
support from the government to be
able to deal with possible Ebola
patients walking through their doors.
“ The health workers think that they
are not protected, they don’ t have the
requisite material to use as to protect
themselves against the Ebola disease ,
so many of the health workers
including physician ’ s assistants ,
nurses , are staying home , ” said Amos
Richards , a physician ’s assistant from
Monrovia . Crisis meeting
Liberian President Ellen Johnson -
Sirleaf and ministers held a crisis
meeting on Sunday to discuss a series
of anti- Ebola measures as police
contained infected communities in the
northern Lofa county .
Tolbert Nyensuah, deputy health
minister , said the government was
doing its best to collect bodies as
quickly as possible . He said that 30
bodies were buried over the weekend
in a mass grave outside the city .
The government purchased land from
a private citizen and that land will be
used to bury the bodies, he said .
Nigeria’ s health ministry announced
on Monday that a doctor in Lagos who
treated a Liberian victim had
contracted the virus – the second
confirmed case in the city , and the
fourth case involving a doctor .
The US doctor infected with the virus ,
“ seems to be improving” , the director
of the Atlanta- based Centers for
Disease Control , where he is being
treated in an isolation unit, said on
Sunday .
A second American infected with the
virus while working in Liberia was
flying back to the US on Tuesday.
0 comments:
Post a Comment