The "Ebola Outbreak" has graced the front pages of many of our news sources, yet the degree in which it has affected the people of West Africa has seldom crossed our mind. The tragedy happening in West Africa has attracted a lot of attention and hopefully this attention is used in order to combat this deadly disease. Not only is it a tragedy that the disease has occurred in concentrated areas which lack proper and basic medical care, but many of the people who contracted Ebola aren't aware that they have it. As a result of insufficient information on Ebola and it's rapid increase, it has spread like wildfire and many are concerned that it will spread even faster due to the congested living quarters in many places of West Africa. The disease continues to spread throughout West Africa and has taken the lives of approximately 1,552 people in the region.
What can we, as an international community, do in order to combat this deadly disease?
Also, feel free to discuss any other means of helping the people in West Africa that you think will be most effective.
CNN article
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3 comments:
Good luck ebola chan~
As stated by the article, those 'states' that have the resources to help have a responsibility to improve the situation; something the United States' developing vaccine could aid in doing. If we were able to extract the two missionary workers and give them an experimental drug, while many in struggling countries in Africa still suffer, I think that we have a duty to help those people that need saving. While many want immediate help for Ebola victims, I also think that the drugs/vaccines being developed need to be field tested to ensure safety to those who would receive the medicine.
It is speculated that the two missionary workers received treatment from the experimental drug company from the "compassionate use" regulation by the FDA; though without having gone through human testing yet. Multiple sources state that if vaccines not yet having gone through human testing were put into use, it would be far to difficult to monitor in terms of effectiveness and safety. While it is our duty, as an international community, to help fight against Ebola spreading, I do think that the right precautions must be made so that our own medicines do not cause further spread of this disease.
I think one of the best ways to combat this disease is by dedicating even more effort into the development of ZMapp, the experimental drug that offers very promising, almost miraculous results. Currently, ZMapp supplies have been exhausted due to giving out the very small amount of it to patients such as the two Americans. The drug is neither a cure nor a vaccine, but it greatly enhances the body's ability to fight off the disease. More effort should be directed towards studying the effects of the drug in humans, as well as a way of producing it faster so that it can be administered to the thousands of people infected. And of course, a vaccine should also be developed to prevent healthy individuals from being infected. Meanwhile, more effort should be made to tighten security in quarantined areas. There are numerous accounts of patients fleeing quarantined areas, which is a huge risk to the rest of the population. Additionally, many Africans are not well-informed about Ebola’s dire consequences. For example, many Africans mistrust hospitals, and instead chooses to hide infected loved ones in homes. So, more effort should also be made to educate the African citizens about public health regarding Ebola.
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