From one of my older posts -The recent 4-month long Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Liberia has resulted in a death toll of 155 out of 231 cases, as of May 3. Even though the outbreak is now reported as being under control it reminds me of the misconceptions surrounding such “foreign” diseases. Many people have only heard of or associate Ebola with books such as “The Hot Zone” and films such as “Contagion” and thus as foreign. These same people decry spending money on foreign aid, which places the “foreign” vs. “domestic” debate in the spotlight. I sincerely hope, however without much optimism, that these incidents combined with the classification change will serve as a wake-up call. Transmission of Ebola occurs through direct physical contact between the blood and secretions of an infected- and an uninfected person. Exposure or contact to contamination on items such as needles also serves as a transmission route. Once infected the individual may unknowingly transmit the disease whilst showing no external signs. This aspect is of greater importance than realized by most, as our world’s boundaries are ever shrinking due to the globalizing nature of international transportation systems and highly mobile populations. Thus the potential of “offloading” such diseases on our once “domestic” doorstep is very real yet at the same time we have no effective vaccine or medicines to combat Ebola. This is largely due to the lack of involvement from the private sector, such as pharmaceutical companies, viewing such an investment as too financially risky. Instead reliance is placed almost solely on foreign aid even though many people feel we are spending too much on such altruistically motivated aid. What they do not see is the desperate need to protect our own communities from infection; in other words Health Security. Foreign aid spurs research in many areas including diagnosis, treatment regimens and pharmaceuticals for numerous “foreign” diseases like Ebola. The late ‘70s saw the eradication of smallpox through a global vaccination programme benefiting not only the lowest income countries but rather all countries and communities. Yet, questions remain, such as how will the use of the new name of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and its classification in line with the ICD-10, promote new research and international funding towards the fight? pandorareport.org/2014/04/22/ebola-infection-same-disease-new-name/
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:06:19 +0000
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