Cooperation

Liberian Leader Concedes Errors in Response to Ebola

Thu, 2015-03-12 13:50 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES by Rick Gladstone March 12, 2015

The president of Liberia acknowledged on Wednesday that she had erred in ordering a tough security crackdown at the height of the Ebola crisis last year, describing the deadly virus as an “unknown enemy” that had frightened her.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during a video address last Deceber to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

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Ebola doctors, nurses no longer recruited for West Africa: Canada

Fri, 2015-03-06 21:07 — mike kraft

CBCNEWS.CA March 5, 2015

A national recruitment drive for health-care workers to help with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been halted for now as the number of new cases of the disease is dropping.

The Canadian Red Cross says the focus is shifting from an emergency response to recovery.

Almost 900 Canadians responded to a recruitment drive last fall by the federal government and the Red Cross....

Dr. Gregory Taylor, Canada's chief public health officer, said a second mobile lab is on its way back to Canada and should arrive by spring. But he said Canada is not walking away from West Africa.

Instead, he said, the federal government is about to send a team of five new experts into the field for four to eight weeks. "What we're sending is epidemiologists, border health specialists and some emergency management skills, and in particular we've been asked to send French-speaking experts in those areas," Taylor told CBC News.

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https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ebola-doctors-nurses-no-longer-100000922.html

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U.S. military ends Ebola mission in Liberia

Thu, 2015-02-26 21:51 — mike kraft

REUTERS by James Harding Giahyue Feb. 26, 2015

MONROVIA -- The United States military officially ended a mission to build treatment facilities to combat an Ebola outbreak in Liberia on Thursday, months earlier than expected, in the latest indication that a year-long epidemic in West Africa is waning.

Washington launched the mission five months ago and the force peaked at over 2,800 troops at a time when Liberia was at the epicenter of the worst Ebola epidemic on record....

"While our large scale military mission is ending...the fight to get to zero cases will continue and the (Joint Force Command) has ensured capabilities were brought that will be sustained in the future," U.S. Army Major General Gary Volesky....

Speaking to lawmakers during a visit to Washington on Thursday, Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf thanked the United States for its support during the crisis.

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/26/us-health-ebola-usa-idUKKBN0LU2HR20150226

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Finishing Off Ebola

Fri, 2015-02-20 15:10 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED BY Ron Klain, the former White House Ebola response coordinaor FEB. 20, 2015

...The world needs to do a better job of quickly detecting and responding to future outbreaks in unlikely places. The President’s Global Health Security Agenda, the government’s strategy to combat infection disease around the world, will help. But vulnerable countries, including those in Africa, need their own version of our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so that they are not so dependent on ours.

For the hardest task of front-line epidemic fighting, our planet is too reliant on courageous and talented — but underfunded, under-equipped and volunteer-dependent — nongovernmental organizations. The world needs a permanent standing force — or a ready reserve that can be quickly organized — of public health emergency responders who have the training, gear and resources to race into a region in the early phases of epidemic control. The United States military cannot do that job every time; future outbreaks might occur in countries where our troops will not be welcomed as they were in West Africa.

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Ebola: UN health agency turns to foreign medical teams in last phase of combat against virus

Sat, 2015-02-14 20:15 — mike kraft

UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE Feb. 13, 2015
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday that it will huddle with medical teams from outside the Ebola-affected countries next week in Geneva to see how they can help in the last phases of the fight to bring the number of cases down to zero.
UN Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark washes her hands on arrival in Ebola-affected Monrovia, Liberia. Photo: UNDP/Dylan Lowthian

Earlier, UN Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark... met with a number community groups in Conakry, Guinea, where she stressed the vital importance of community advocacy in stopping the outbreak. Her mission will conclude with a visit to Sierra Leone early next week.

UNDP is working with the national authorities and local, regional and international partners, including the African Development Bank, the European Union and the World Bank, on an Ebola Recovery Assessment, and in support of national strategies, as part of its mandate to the lead the UN system in the Ebola-related recovery efforts.

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Ebola: Call for more sharing of scientific data

Mon, 2015-02-02 21:56 — mike kraft

BBC NEWS by Helen Briggs, Environment correspondent Feb. 2, 2015

The devastation left by the Ebola virus in west Africa raises many questions for science, policy and international development.

One issue that has yet to receive widespread media attention is the handling of genetic data on the virus.

By studying its code, scientists can trace how Ebola leapt across borders, and how, like all viruses, it is constantly evolving and changing.

Yet, researchers have been privately complaining for months about the scarcity of genetic information about the virus that is entering the public domain.

In the last few days, scientists have been speaking on and off the record about their concerns.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31091816

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What worked in controlling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Sat, 2015-01-31 15:31 — mike kraft

One Lesson: Rush to Help, not to declare victory

EDITORIAL THE WASHINGTON POST Jan. 31, 2015

THE WORLD’S tardy response to the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, which has killed 8,810 people, demands that lessons be learned.

Toward that end, a fresh batch of scientific reports has emerged in recent days to guide future responses. The World Health Organization, which stumbled in the initial period, seems to be recognizing its mistakes and looking for ways to correct them.... it is vital to keep medical interventions in place for long periods — and a big mistake to declare victory too early. The research also shows that most transmission of Ebola occurred in families....

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There's an Ebola Vaccine in Africa. Now What?

Thu, 2015-01-29 03:44 — mike kraft

A scanning electron micrograph of the Ebola virus. The first large-scale trials of an Ebola vaccine are underway in Africa.(NIAID / Flickr)

Unprecedented: In four months, the Ebola vaccine has gone from concept to field trial. Success is not assured.

THE NATIONAL JOURNAL by Brian Resnick Jan. 28, 2015

Detailed description of the problems issues and procedures for fieldingand testing Ebola vaccines in West Africa.

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..."Without the (Ebola) virus circulating, there's no way to prove the vaccine is effective. At current infection rates, trial researchers would need to see 100 cases of Ebola over a four-month period to achieve statistical significance. That time frame may stretch, or fall apart altogether.

"It's a real dilemma," says Margaret Harris, an MD and spokeswoman for the World Health Organization. "It's extremely good news that the cases are coming down, but it does mean we may not have clear phase III data."

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African Union vows Ebola fund as Oxfam calls for 'Marshall Plan'

Wed, 2015-01-28 16:01 — mike kraft

AFP Jan. 28, 2015
Addis Ababa - The African Union plans to launch an Ebola fund and disease control centre, officials said Wednesday, as aid agency Oxfam warned leaders needed to keep their promises to boost healthcare systems on the continent.

Oxfam called for a "massive post-Ebola Marshall Plan", referring to the United States aid package to rebuild Europe after World War II....

AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko on Wednesday said an African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention would be set up by mid-2015.

"It is a reality, it is going to happen," Kaloko said, with the first phase concentrating on setting up "an early warning system" for the detection of epidemics. "We should be ready the next time. We shouldn't be caught unprepared."

However, its exact location remains undecided.

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http://news.yahoo.com/african-union-pledges-ebola-fund-oxfam-calls-marshall-145446661.html;_ylt=AwrBEiFLBMlUpSsAOxfQtDMD

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UN: African Countries 'Vital' in Fight Against Ebola

Wed, 2015-01-21 20:14 — mike kraft

VOICE OF AMERICA by Jennifer Lazuta Jan. 20, 2015
DAKAR, SENEGAL—Sub-Saharan African countries have made relatively small, but “vitally important,” contributions towards the fight against Ebola according to the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. This includes sending much-needed health care workers and medical supplies, as well as dedicating already-limited resources toward prevention and surveillance measures within their own borders to stop the further spread of the disease.

Health workers accompany a nine-year-old who contracted the Ebola virus to a Monrovia treatment center.

More than 850 doctors and nurses from African countries have been deployed to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help bring an end to West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 8,500 people since it began nearly a year ago.

African countries also have collectively donated tens of millions of dollars in financial aid and material resources.

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