FREETOWN,
SIERRA LEONE—
It was a year ago on August 8 that the World Health
Organization declared Ebola to be an international health emergency. The
outbreak, the worst in history, has killed more than 11,000 people in West
Africa.But about 13,000 people have beaten the virus in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone, the WHO has said.
Yusuf Kabba was one of them. He caught the virus last
October during the height of the crisis. He survived but is haunted by what he
saw firsthand in the treatment centers.
“I was seeing horrible things," Kabba said. "I was
seeing corpses, seeing suffering, seeing people dying. ...” To help former Ebola patients like himself cope, he started
the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors, and he's also trying to
educate others about the virus.
That kind of community engagement is believed to have played
a crucial role in containing the epidemic, said Dr. Anders Nordstrom, who heads
the WHO in Freetown.
“There have been major challenges here with trust of people
in communities, believing there are certain things you need to do [for
Ebola prevention] and there is a possibility to survive," Nordstrom
said. "So just for people to see that you can survive has helped a lot.”
International conference
Nordstrom said that because survivors face so many
post-Ebola issues, it was important to have an international conference to
learn more about them.
Health workers, scientists and other experts came together
this week in Sierra Leone to discuss advances in clinical care, research and
"bio-banking," which involves the storing of biological samples for
further study.
Survivors also talked about the challenges they still face,
including emotional trauma, joint pain and vision problems. Kabba said he hoped survivors could get more financial
assistance because many have lost their livelihoods from getting sick and
facing stigma.
The
end of the crisis is in sight, with cases now a small fraction of what
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Please insert your comments here