HEALTHY REASONING: Ebola More Dangerous Than Terrorism

By Allan Bucka Jones
Pride Health Columnist 

This week has started with good news on the Ebola front; Nigeria and Senegal are now deemed Ebola free. Also, Canada began shipping 800 vials of a made in Canada experimental Ebola vaccine to Geneva on Monday, having donated the vaccine to the World Health Organization. The donated vaccine will be used in clinical trials aimed at determining whether it is safe to use in people and to ascertain what an effective dose will be.

But some bad news regarding Ebola emerged near the end of last week, when it was reported that the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ health agency, stated in a draft document, that it botched attempts to stop the now-spiralling Ebola outbreak in West Africa, blaming factors including incompetent staff and a lack of information. In the document obtained by The Associated Press, the agency wrote that experts should have realized that traditional infectious disease containment methods would not work in a region with porous borders and broken health systems. Attempts are being made to blame locally based Africans for the incompetence seen, and we are made to wonder why the top operatives at the WHO do not take full responsibility for a grave mistake. This admission, by the WHO, adds fuel to the cynicism and doubts that many individuals have about the cause and real purpose behind the emergence, once again, of the deadly virus in Africa. About a week ago, popular R&B artist Chris Brown referred to the Ebola epidemic as “a form of population control”.

The Ebola virus first appeared in two outbreaks in 1976, in Africa; however, it is a virus that many pharmaceutical companies did not find attractive enough from a financial standpoint, to pursue research on a vaccine. It was left up to the defence departments of both Canada and the US to pursue the research, with their understanding that the virus could be a weapon used by terrorists in a bio-terrorism attack. This research is what has contributed to the Canada made experimental vaccine.

When I was in University doing a Plant Pathology course, I recall the professor telling us that it is always better to control a disease in someone else’s territory, because you may prevent it from being a problem on your soil. It is so basic that I shudder to think that a respectable and important organization like the WHO could have failed to act when it was needed. Many people in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia could still be alive if action was taken.

The health care system of these West African nations at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak, is stretched very thin and they cannot cope with the increasing number of Ebola cases turning up daily at the hospitals and treatment centres. In a telephone interview I had with Dr. Monty Jones in Sierra Leone, on my weekly talk show last weekend, the man who is the Special Advisor to the President and Ambassador at Large, stressed that the world should come to their rescue because they cannot cope; they urgently need beds and logistical support. I ended that interview feeling so sad, especially knowing that for over two months ago the alarm was raised on my talk show that Ebola was just a plane ride away so we need to focus on controlling the disease in West Africa. It was after the first North American case with the Liberian man in Texas that North America and the West awoke from its Ebola slumber. On the same talk show, I also chatted with Dr. Senga Omeonga, a physician and Ebola survivor in Liberia. Still not at his full strength, but on the forefront helping Ebola patients, he described Ebola as being more dangerous than terrorism, seeing that it is an unseen enemy. He said help coming into the Ebola affected countries was too late, too slow. He described the urgent need for health care personnel, utensils and equipment to shore up a health care system that is very weak.

Many of us are getting caught up in questioning where the virus originated and who is responsible and a lot of unnecessary scepticism. There will be time for all of that sometime soon. Right now let us keep the focus on Ebola, and more specifically how the outbreak can be stopped. There are many West Africans living in Canada whose heart rate goes up every time their phone rings, as they wonder if their loved ones have been infected by the Ebola virus. This is not an easy situation for them. Canada has contributed to Ebola eradication, but still talk to your elected officials about the need for a more significant Canadian Ebola response. We can and should do more. Remember what Dr. Senga Omeonga in Liberia said… “Ebola is more dangerous than terrorism”.  

Allan Bucka Jones is a Health Promoter and Broadcaster. He can be heard on “Allan Bucka Jones LIVE”, Sundays from 3 to 5pm on CHRY 105.5 FM, www.chry.fm option RDO.to , Rogers Digital Cable 945, Bell Fibe 973 or mobile app TuneIn Radio. You can contact Allan Bucka Jones at allan@jonesandjones.ca.