Ebola disease and the international response.

Ebola and the international response.

History revealed that the first recorded case of Ebola outbreak was in Congo DR in 1976 and since that time there had been recorded cases in other parts of Africa like Sudan, Uganda, Gabon devastating families and communities. However those outbreaks have always been limited to isolated villages and communities and never spreading to major cities and towns with a larger populace. This majorly l believe  has been contributory to the poor response that this very deadly and devastating disease has been getting from the committee of nations especially the western nations with their more advanced technology and expertise. These present outbreaks however reveals how all nations of the world is at risk of getting this disease imported into their country.

The world is a global village and with movement across countries that are very far apart now possible within hours the possibility of getting it across to other part of the world is very high. We have seen the Nigeria case where an American Liberian  national Patrick Sawyerr carried it form Liberia to Nigeria.

Other volunteer workers from other countries are now coming down this time around which is usually not the case before. We have noticed 3 Americans working in Liberia coming down with the disease with 2 successfully treated so far while a Briton serving in Sierra leone too also recovering from  the disease.

Now the world especially the western world are now seriously looking at the disease and how to conquer it. However, it takes for them to see how it can affect them before it was taken seriously by them.

This is sad considering how many lives had been lost and still loosing to this terrible disease before every body is now waking up to its reality. Interest was not shown because the research companies does not see how it can be profitable to them after all it usually comes in an outbreak and disappears, affects poor communities with no possibility of it reaching cities with larger populace or even their countries.

Now all research companies are now into it seriously now that the world is talking about it and the possibility of profit is now high.

It really, really is unfortunate and a sad testimony to how the world works and things are done only when  there is going to be something to be gained and not necessarily for humanity.

It is my hope that humanity will not find itself in situations like these again. The ebola disease is one of the greatest pestilences that the world has ever witness but the good news is that people are still able to survive ti.

In the outbreak in DR Congo  in 1995 some group of the Congolese doctors decided to use the blood from a survivor to treat a nurse involved in caring for those infected and who also got sick from it and they decided to give her the blood from the survival of the disease hoping that the immunity developed by him will help the nurse and she was able to recover and 7 out of 8 treated that way survived.

The international volunteers resisted the treatment being carried out on her and the  others  but they still went ahead.

Even Dr Brantley was given such treatment before he was transferred to the US. It is sad that such treatment that has worked all this while was ignored for such along time and it is sad because the idea did not come from international community it was not accepted it was rejected as not being ethically correct.

However, things will not always remains the same forever as change is the only constant thing in life and of course it is part of evolving.

This is what the WHO has done and has approved this method as a means of treating those affected. For those who took a  long time to evolve and those who did not it is the end result that matters because everybody has faced and accepted the challenges and the reality of this terrible disease and are now evolving – for better. Do you think the west was slow in responding? what else could have been done to control these disease? Your views will be highly appreciated,

About Ebola and its effect on medical practice in west Africa.

For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these- it might have been ...john whittler.

Ebola is a dangerous, cataclysmic, deadly viral disease that has affected west african countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria causing so much pain, death and misery.

It is unfortunate that presently there is a lot of outburst and concern with this present outbreak despite the fact that Ebola has been around for close to 38 years and is a sad testimony to the apathy of the world to a disease that has the capacity to destroy and devastate whole families and communities with death to the health workers and psychological trauma to those fortunate to survive it.

The present out break defies the normal pattern.

1. it is not localized to rural villages and communities.

2. it affected major cities and towns.

3. the strain of this present outbreak which is different from the usual one.

4. the potential it has  shown to spread globally thus putting the whole world at risk of its spread.

5. its devastating ability to be contacted and to kill its victim.
6. the prominence of vomiting and diarrhea more than the usual bleeding from orifice thus causing the name to be changed to ebola virus disease(EVD)

The effect of this on the response of the international community and the practice of medicine in the affected countries has been massive and interesting.

I will focus today on the effect it has had on practice of medicine. It is no gainsaying the fact that those who are affected mostly by the Ebola virus disease are the health workers who are usually those that will usually have first contact with the patient apart from their family members or those who brought them to the hospital. This is worsened by

1. their not applying any protective measures when initially attending to these patients since the presentation are usually like any other common illness like malaria, diarrhea, upper respiratory tract infection.

2. most clinics and hospitals do not practice or adhere to safe medical practice like a regular routine of disinfecting and cleaning the work environment viz a viz reducing the possibility of giving or receiving infection to or from the patient.

3. unavailability of funding to be able to ensure the continuity of applying safe and simple practice such as regular and consistent disinfecting of the clinic and in their handling of patients.

4. unavailability of personal protective equipment(PPE) which can be worn in handling suspected cases.

5. not quickly putting in place a system of surveillance and having a high suspicion index of viral disease with possible hemorrhagic symptoms like ebola, lassa fever that are highly infectious.

6. poor understanding of the need to spend money on the basic things that help to prevent hospital acquired infection by the government or even those managing the health centres even when they  happen to receive some funding which unfortunately comes irregularly.

7. poor sensitization and awareness of the public with regards to this terrible disease.

All this are the poor working conditions and human neglect that have also contributed to the widespread of this present outbreak.

It is however interesting to see the changes these has brought both on government, health workers and even on the part of the general public with regards to awareness about the importance of personal hygiene both at individual and hospital level.

It is good how the health personnel have seen how important it is to protect themselves and not to take many things for granted. The government carefree attitude toward the health sectors and its staff well being is now being awakened may be because it affected the rich and everybody is now talking about the need to fund the sector more and take care of its health workers well being.

Across these countries, the need for ensuring and practicing personal cleanliness and cultivating more healthy living practices. Even though it is sad that many lives had been lost which truly is a sad testimony to the health system in west africa but maybe in the long run it might be to the benefit of the future of their health system as everybody becomes proactive with regards to their health practices and the health system to mange the health challenges that they faced and will continue to face.

What do you think about the ebola situation in west africa? Do you think more could be done? Do you think that maybe in the long run it can lead to better health system being put in place. Your opinions will be highly appreciated. Next time we will discuss about the international response to this outbreak.

Why evolving is a must for a successful life

We are all a product of our family, environment, culture and belief be it religious or otherwise. All this different influences can be for good or for bad depending on what angle we are looking at it from.

The reality of life makes it pertinent to construe or get a balance between all the contending forces that we have to face in life thus developing a view or belief that will serve us well in life.

The fact of the matter is that life is beautiful, it is a privilege that is worth rejoicing about irrespective of our background. Come to think of it, it could have been worse. sometimes l wonder when l see animals and l gladly gives thank that no matter my situation l still have a life. One that l can think, create, makes choices and a life that is not based on instinct.

It is a privilege to know that l have a life, that my way of life is much higher than theirs. Not a life that can be cruelly stuffed out as a means of providing food or meat for human consumption. Sorry for my digression, the reason for this is just to emphasize the importance of why we should be grateful for the gift of life.

Having said that, in view of the contending forces we all have to cope with in life, it is important to accept the fact that there will be need for us to adjust to the challenges of life that we will surely face in the process of living.

l for example comes from a background where in our family, we are very expressive, we are a merry go lucky, garrulous family. we are outgoing, we are extroverts. Even though we love life and people l realize later on in life that my extrovert nature was causing me a lot of hindrances too.

How you may wonder, well, l tend to take over discussion with other people. l tend to be spontaneous in my speech and spirit. l love to talk and talk and ask questions with the mindset of getting to know the other person.

One way or the other people seems to get tired of me and getting to know me and l was always baffled when some people just don't want to be my friend.

The problem is not with being an extrovert but rather with being able to put a limit to how much of the extrovert nature should dominate me. The fact of life is that anything carried to the extreme will not be appreciated and rather than being a strength it can become a weakness.

Part of the process of evolving was for me to be sincere with myself and try to see how l can curtail this part of me to an extent that l will still not loose my identity. In a way trying  to curtail this aspect of my personality has helped met to try and be calmer in the way l do things. It has helped me to be able to see and study people more, to learn about human nature and to see how me myself could learn more from others by observing them and listening to them.

Learning to control the tendency to let go of all that is in me and to try and listen to others means more respect for me. People tends to respect you more when they don't seem to know much about you or you tend to say less about yourself compared to them because of the mystery that it brings up about you.

I believe there will always be enough time to show how wise we are and it is by getting a balance between the extrovert and introvert  that the complete perfect man is made.

When l say l am evolving it does not mean l am becoming an introvert. No, it is just that l am finding my level in between both extremes of personality which to me is the best place to be in other to learn and still be able to share with others.

From my experience so far it has been an enriching one. Better relationship with others, better way of doing things, better way of studying life and people and most importantly getting to know myself in an more deeper way.

That is an aspect of evolving that l will talk about today. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? How has it worked for you? Do you envy the other personality or do you see the positive in their personality? It will be interesting to know your thoughts on these issues and most especially the role you think evolving can play in both personality and how it can make for a better personality or individual.