EBOLA

It is 7^th October, 2014, 4:00 am and I just woke up with a pounding headache, apparently a symptom of a hangover as a result of a little shindig I had with some Muslim friends yesterday, an Eid celebration holiday in my Country, Ghana. This headache was to be compounded further by the daily updates blurring from my little battery powered radio, which is tuned in default to the BBC, announcing the ravaging effects of Ebola on THREE WEST AFRICAN STATES (GUINEA, LIBERIA AND SIERRA LEONE) and the latest victim, a Spanish nurse who became the first nurse to contract the disease outside Africa. I take out Nigeria because it has effectively halted the spread. West Africa is suffocating under a heap of stigma and stereotype; nothing new to Africa so never mind.  Images of a police convoy racing through the streets of Spain and leading the ambulance conveying this nurse to a quarantine centre suddenly conjured the two word phrase ‘IF ONLY’ which hit me like a missile. Then, it became clear, how certain actions and inactions has lead to this scourge spreading like wildfire.  If only everyone has been a little less ignorant but more pro-active, the world would not be threatened by an Ebola Armageddon today. There are a lot of experts bandying frightening statistics and projections around so since I am not a health expect I shall not stray into that territory. So what about ‘IF ONLY’?? Let’s start.

In my opinion, the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.), exhibited some form of naivety when at the onset of the disease in Guinea, some nations in West Africa decided to take ‘pro-active’ actions to prevent the disease from entering their countries. The W.H.O. claimed Ebola at the time was not an epidemic yet therefore countries should not take ‘panic’ measures. This raises a curious question. Was the .W.H.O., at the time, asking countries to wait until the disease reaches an epidemic level before taking any action? This lead to a lot of complacency since the W.H.O. has all the expertise and is considered an authority on world health issues. Maybe the W.H.O. was oblivious of how Africans culturally treat their dead but that cannot be forgiven because this is not the first case of Ebola in Africa.

THE WORLD WOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE FROM EBOLA TODAY

• If only people have not insisted on applying some outmoded cultural practises which are usually steeped in superstition and religious bigotry in some parts of Africa.
•  If only, people have not insisted on handling their own dead relatives as most cultures demand in Africa.
•  If only people have not attacked health workers with machetes and other weapons and insisted on taking away sick and dead relatives.
•  If only people have been less superstitious and have been more realistic.
•  If only governments have educated citizens on all the above.
•  If only governments have paid less attention to the W.H.O. at the onset and have continued with proactive actions to halt the disease in its track.
•  If only some people around the rest of the world would know and understand that there are 18 countries in West Africa and only 3 and a half have been affected by Ebola and if they would take actual care to know these countries in order to take the appropriate actions when people from these countries arrive in their countries.
•  If only people would understand that Ebola does not spread like flu does.
•     If only people would volunteer rather than stigmatise out of fear.
•  If only the rest of the world have realised early that this virus has the potential to ruin world security and that it isn't just an African problem.
•     If only a little bit of common sense have been applied early.

Then the world would not have arrived at this point.

Ebola had only managed to spread in 3 out 18 West African Countries. This happened mainly because Ebola is not and has never been a ‘West African disease’ therefore when it started, people attributed superstition to it and insisted on performing normal funeral rites (i am not justifying superstition). In doing so, a lot of people came into contact with infected corpses and sick people which further ignited the chain of infections. That was how the disease spiraled out of control. Therefore, it’s not as if someone with Ebola sneezes and everyone next to him/her catches the disease. Medical experts have clearly stated that unless one comes into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is very ill from the disease, one will just not catch it(www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en). Every country has an absolute right to protect its citizens anyway they must but let's becareful not to allow individuals and organisations with crude political agenda, to hijack this tragedy for their benefit. For example why would someone tell their kids not to receive gifts or letters from Africa. It's absurd!!