scholarly journals Ebola Virus Epidemic in West Africa: Global Health Economic Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Policy Recommendations

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 67-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Elmahdawy ◽  
Gihan H. Elsisi ◽  
Joao Carapinha ◽  
Mohamed Lamorde ◽  
Abdulrazaq Habib ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Economic ◽  
Global Health ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Recommendations

scholarly journals The Ebola outbreak, 2013–2016: old lessons for new epidemics

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1721) ◽  
pp. 20160297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cordelia E. M. Coltart ◽  
Benjamin Lindsey ◽  
Isaac Ghinai ◽  
Anne M. Johnson ◽  
David L. Heymann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
West African ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Haemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Epidemiological Parameters

Ebola virus causes a severe haemorrhagic fever in humans with high case fatality and significant epidemic potential. The 2013–2016 outbreak in West Africa was unprecedented in scale, being larger than all previous outbreaks combined, with 28 646 reported cases and 11 323 reported deaths. It was also unique in its geographical distribution and multicountry spread. It is vital that the lessons learned from the world's largest Ebola outbreak are not lost. This article aims to provide a detailed description of the evolution of the outbreak. We contextualize this outbreak in relation to previous Ebola outbreaks and outline the theories regarding its origins and emergence. The outbreak is described by country, in chronological order, including epidemiological parameters and implementation of outbreak containment strategies. We then summarize the factors that led to rapid and extensive propagation, as well as highlight the key successes, failures and lessons learned from this outbreak and the response. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The 2013–2016 West African Ebola epidemic: data, decision-making and disease control’.

La Palabre: A New Schema for Global Health

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Patrick Luan ◽  
Paul Reed
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
The Public ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractThe Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa has led to a paradigm shift in the way the global community responds to outbreaks of disease. This new paradigm places even greater emphasis on collaboration in global health. Thepalabre,the traditional African practice of mediation and decision-making in the public sphere, offers a schema from which to view current and future global health engagement. This process of dialogue and exchange has many applications to global health exemplified recently by the West African Disaster Preparedness Initiative (WADPI), a follow-on activity to the Operation United Assistance (OUA) Ebola Response effort. WADPI, utilizing the structure of apalabre,seeks to catalyze and synergize constructive collaboration to set a foundation for disaster response in West Africa for years to come. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:541–543)

scholarly journals Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa: lessons learned and issues arising from West African countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Obinna O Oleribe ◽  
Babatunde L Salako ◽  
M Mourtalla Ka ◽  
Albert Akpalu ◽  
Mairi McConnochie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
West African ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
African Countries

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic Readiness Status of West Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virgil Kaussi Lokossou ◽  
Basil Benduri Kaburi ◽  
Delia Akosua Bandoh ◽  
Edgard-Marius Ouendo ◽  
Aboubacar Ouédraogo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
The West ◽  
Member States ◽  
Regional Coordination

Abstract Background From the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in late December 2019, countries have been stepping up their pandemic preparedness and response activities in accordance with WHO recommendations. Informed by the recent lessons learned from the West Africa Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, and subsequent investments made in public health emergency preparedness and response in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) is providing regional leadership in the COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and response. We assessed the COVID-19 pandemic readiness status of West Africa. Methods We conducted survey of all 15 ECOWAS member states between February 27 and March 15, 2020. We purposively selected a minimum of two respondents from each of the 15 ECOWAS member states – interviewing 37 in all using an interviewer-administered questionnaire based on the nine item WHO national capacity review tool for novel corona virus (nCOV). We also reviewed reports of COVID-19 pandemic preparedness meetings and trainings organized by WAHO. We performed a thematic analysis on the data and described the strengths and weaknesses of the ongoing pandemic readiness efforts of West Africa. Results Overall, the strengths of pandemic readiness of the region were: capacity to test 86.7% (13/15) of member states; functional incident management systems (100%); rapid response teams 100%, and at least two of the three tiers of field epidemiology workforce (100%). Within the region also, there existed good cross-border collaborations among member states, active participation of health ministers of member states in regional coordination meetings and decision making. Member states described the numbers of qualified biomedical scientists/technicians, field epidemiologists, risk communicators, and COVID-19 case management teams as inadequate. None of the member states had stockpiles of COVID-19 test kits, laboratory supplies, and personal protective equipment. Conclusion ECOWAS member states are taking appropriate COVID-19 pandemic preparedness measures in all pillars towards a regional response. Rather than a total lack, there are insufficiencies in numbers of skilled workforce, logistics, and supplies. Governments of member states are supportive of the coordination and technical direction of WAHO and WHO.

scholarly journals Shadowlands and dark corners

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Almudena Marí Sáez ◽  
Ann H. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Lassa Fever ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research Project ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
And Control

Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) persist in darkness. The pathogenicity of viruses like Lassa, Marburg, and Ebola is partly explained by their ability to survive on surfaces outside their infected hosts, provided they are not exposed to heat, disinfecting chemicals, or ultraviolet light. Taking these basic virological insights as our starting point, we seek to elaborate ethnographically the links between disease transmission and gradations of luminosity. An interdisciplinary research project into the control of Lassa fever in West Africa provided the empirical prompt for this article, which we then extended through our experience working in the region during the 2014–2016 Ebola virus outbreak. The spectral dimensions of zoonotic exchange and the apprehensions they engender help us come to grips with the complex interface of viral biology and human-animal sociality, and, we suggest, add nuance to global health framings of disease transmission and control.

scholarly journals Marginalisation, Ebola and Health for All: From Outbreak to Lessons Learned

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (17) ◽  
pp. 3023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Shelley-Egan ◽  
Jim Dratwa
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Main Components

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa between 2014 and 2015 was the deadliest since the discovery of the virus four decades ago. With the second-largest outbreak of Ebola virus disease currently raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRC) it is clear that lessons from the past can be quickly forgotten—or be incomplete in the first instance. In this article, we seek to understand the health challenges facing marginalised people by elaborating on the multiple dimensions of marginalisation in the case of the West Africa Ebola epidemic. We trace and unpack modes of marginalisation, beginning with the “outbreak narrative” and its main components and go on to examine other framings, including the prioritisation of the present over the past, the positioning of ‘Us versus Them’; and the marginalisation—in responses to the outbreak—of traditional medicine, cultural practices and other practices around farming and hunting. Finally, we reflect on the ‘lessons learned’ framing, highlighting what is included and what is left out. In conclusion, we stress the need to acknowledge—and be responsive to—the ethical, normative framings of such marginalisation.

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