Sewa News Stream

"Fund the emergency response for Ebola," urges one headline last week. In the op-ed, Koma Gandy Fischbein, a former U.S. Navy officer now a fellow with the Truman National Security Project, made the case why Congress should provide an "additional $6.18 billion in emergency funding to support domestic preparedness and international efforts to combat Ebola. Writing for The Hill newspaper’s Congress Blog, a forum for American lawmakers and policy professionals, Fischbein argued that the United States has the opportunity to lead the way, and support the effort to contain and stop the ugly march of Ebola at its source. “Though there are signs of progress in the most affected countries, continued coordination and support from the international community is required to sustain this progress, transfer knowledge, and support health care infrastructure put in place to reverse the progress of this disease," Fischbein wrote, adding, “Congress must set aside partisan pol...

Since the Ebola epidemic exploded into Sierra Leone in May 2014, the disease has claimed more than 1,250 lives and the virus continues to outpace efforts to contain it. In October, Save the Children warned that a rate of five new Ebola cases an hour in Sierra Leone means healthcare demands are far outstripping supply. According to the World Health Organization, 24 percent of the total number of 6,000 Ebola cases in Sierra Leone have been reported in the past three weeks. Although doctors and nurses in Sierra Leone are laboring to combat the Ebola outbreak, which is putting enormous strain on the limited healthcare facilities, and emergency medicine volunteers have flown in from various countries to help in the fight, Sierra Leone remains a country with widespread transmission. In response, a new medical organization plans to tap Sierra Leonean born doctors, nurses, and public health professionals around the world to fill the gap. For more information on the US-Sierra Leone Healt...

The National Organization of Sierra Leoneans in North America (NOSLINA) is planning a third airlift of equipment in response to Sierra Leone’s plea for help with battling widespread and intense transmission of Ebola. Currently, Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and Sanitation urgently requires medication, rubber gloves, aprons, goggles or face shields, surgical or high filtration masks, leg covers, and shoe covers, amongst other items. Three months ago, NOSLINA airlifted materials to combat the Ebola virus. The initiative — which involved delivery of more than 4,750 pounds of cargo, followed calls from diplomatic representation led by Ambassador Bockari Kortu Stevens in Washington D.C. The items were transported to Sierra Leone from the United States through coordination of Airlink, a 24/7 disaster response organization that links vetted charities such as NOSLINA with airlines for air and cargo transportation, and with global logistics companies. The aircraft arrived at Fr...

Dr. Ibrahim Diallo There has been a lot of news coverage lately about Ebola in Sierra Leone. By all accounts, it’s an ugly situation—transmission rates rising, aid appearing too little, too late, airlines canceling flights, countries suspending visa applications, Sierra Leoneans facing stigma, and overall economic loss for the country. And that’s not even taking into account the after-effects on thousands of children who are now orphans.   "While we have been away from home, our hearts are with our families, friends and neighbors we would like to help during this difficult moment," says Dr. Ibrahim Diallo, chairman of the US-Sierra Leone Healthcare Coalition. "They expect us, their diaspora, to stand up and tell their stories."           The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa has dramatically raised awareness of the global burden of infectious disease and raised questions about the preparedness of public health systems.  The Ebola epid...

In support of the government of Sierra Leone and the U. K. international development department, British Army medical teams, stores and aid experts arrived at Freetown's deep water quay Thursday on Royal Fleet Auxiliary aviation support ship Argus. The arrival of Argus is the latest deployment in a joint operation to assist the UK aid mission, with 800 deployed personnel. The Argus’ helicopters and  fleet of vehicles will speed up the delivery of emergency supplies and personnel across the country, a Dfid official said. Three Merlin Mk2 helicopters, from 820 Naval Air Squadron, will be used to help teams move quickly around the country. Two landing craft vehicles and 3 rigid hull inflatable boats, from 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines, will be used for moving equipment and personnel inland along Sierra Leone’s river network. Personnel from 5 British medical regiments are helping to train more than 800 Sierra Leoneans at the Ebola Training Academy in the nation's capita...

Producer, writer and director Nzinga Blake (center) took questions on Twitter Wednesday about the End Ebola Now campaign. From PSAs to informational flyers to viral campaigns, the Los Angeles, California-based group made up of Sierra Leonean-Americans in the entertainment industry, are focused on ending the Ebola crisis. To do that, the campaign is reaching out to West Africans in the United States, and works with organizations such as Emergency USA in Sierra Leone to raise awareness about the work they do. Since 2001 EMERGENCY has helped over 464,801 people in Sierra Leone. The goal is to spread information and raise awareness about the disease and its impact through artistic community activism.  To read the interview via the Sewa News Twitter channel @SewaNews, click here  https://twitter.com/SewaNews/status/527514062255849472 Please click below for more information on End Ebola Now and Emergency USA - Sierra Leone End Ebola Now EmergencyUSA

Sierra Leone's capital Freetown has tripled the number of safe burials of Ebola victims in the past week and the challenge now is to expand that coordination across the country, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told Reuters on Monday. Power is visiting to see how the world is failing in its response to the epidemic, Reuters said, "Seeing them turn a 30 percent safe burial rate in Freetown into a 98 percent safe burial rate is a tribute to a combination of top down presidential leadership, finally the kind of coordination that's been needed throughout and a willingness on the part of Sierra Leoneans, notwithstanding the stigma, to step forward and be part of burial teams," Power told Reuters. According to the report, Britain has so far committed several hundred million dollars, some of which is being used to build treatment beds, community care centers, train health care workers and burial teams. About £10 million ($18.2m) of the latest £80m ...

There’s an old legend about a mayor of Freetown who paid a visit to Gambia to meet with the mayor of Banjul. Two days into his stay, Freetown’s mayor thought that most people in Banjul knew somebody's name in his city 500 miles away. Everywhere he went, he ran into someone who had family or friends in Freetown. Historical, trade, and cultural ties go back centuries between the two African countries. So it came as a bit of a shock when the Gambia announced in April that all flights from Sierra Leone (as well as Guinea and Liberia) to Banjul had been cancelled to prevent the spread of Ebola. The decision left passengers, mainly traders travelling to Banjul, stranded, while Sierra Leone’s government was still in talks with Banjul. “Given the severity of the Ebola virus disease, I support the decision,” said Felice Oluremi Lawrence. They were “safety measures taken by the government of Gambia to prevent the virus from entering its borders,” she said. Sierra Leonean born Felic...

The Sierra Leone-United Kingdom (U.K.) Diaspora Taskforce is supporting UK-MED’s drive to recruit healthcare professionals for deployment to Sierra Leone. 400 healthcare workers are needed each week to cope with the Ebola outbreak. Please direct further enquires to info@slwt.org  SLWT (Sierra Leone War Trust for Children) is dedicated to promoting the education, health, rehabilitation and self-sufficiency of children and yong people in Sierra Leone through advocacy and the provision of financial and technical support. SLWT works in collaboration with established local partners.

“Everybody must know what they can do to avoid getting the disease…Everybody in every house in every community in this country is very important in our fight against Ebola.” - President Koroma Health organizations worried Sierra Leone's mandatory quarantine could drive panicked communities into further isolation, and Médecins sans Frontières expressed concerns about where new cases would be treated. But almost two weeks later, a place imagined to be the one of the worst equipped to deal with an outbreak of Ebola is taking serious precautions other than staying at home. Kroo Bay, a sprawling slum in the capital, Freetown, conducted a two-day door-to-door campaign to identify any potential Ebola cases that have been hidden among an estimated beachfront township of 15,000 people. According to Awareness Times , the community came together on the decision to find out the severity of the outbreak in their area following the death of a local herbalist, Santigi Bangura, also known...

According to sources close to State House, a recent newspaper story about defective ambulances is not true. Mohamed Gibril Sesay, a presidential adviser, has denied claims that new ambulances bought by the government of Sierra Leone earlier this month have broken down. "The ambulance story is a blatant lie, all are working, and they are not second hand.” At the beginning of September, local papers reported that the first batch of 20 ambulances ordered by the government of Sierra Leone from Dubai had arrived at Lungi. The ambulances were received by Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation Ibrahim Mansaray and other officials from ministries of health and sanitation, and finance and economic development. According to Mansaray, the ambulances are fully equipped and brand new, one report said. Sesay explained that some utility vehicles, which were bought quickly in-country to supply the needs of burial teams, [Ebola] surveillance teams, etcetera are secondhand. “Almost all ...

From Charge d'Affaires Kathleen FitzGibbon Dated: September 21, 2014 The House-to-House Ebola Talk campaign continues throughout the country and is an amazing show of national unity. Sierra Leoneans have embraced the effort and are welcoming the dialogue. The radio stations are playing Ebola-related songs, public service announcements, and discussions with experts. The people I have spoken to feel that something needed to be done to bring information about Ebola to arm each household for the ongoing battle. Operationally, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the World Health Organization, World Food Program, United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, MSF, and other international non-governmental organizations are working around-the-clock to get those seeking treatment into centers and testing and providing proper burials to corpses being found. This has not been an easy task and we will have a better idea of what the challenges countrywide are after the districts have an o...

In Sierra Leone, about 30,000 people are going house-to-house covering 1.5 million households between Friday, September 19 and Sunday, September 21 to listen to community concerns, provide appropriate knowledge about Ebola  transmission, prevention, care and treatment, and to encourage families to take sick patients to treatment or observation facilities. According to official information reported by the Minsitry of Health and Sanitation to the World Health Organization Thursday , the incidence of Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone is still rising, with over 200 new cases reported in the past week. Transmission remains high in the capital, Freetown, and surrounding urban areas. The umbers of newly reported cases appear to have stabilized in Kailahun and Kenema, but a number of other districts have reported an increase in the number of new cases over the past week: Port Loko (a district adjacent to Freetown), Bo, Bombali, and Tonkolili, the WHO said.  Reporting for Ag...

Dr. Olivette Buck leads President Koroma on a visit to the Lumley Govt. Hospital in October 2013 Stricter infection control measures are in place as well as the personal protective equipment medical staff wear, but Ebola continues to take its toll on Sierra Leonean medical professionals and  health workers in treatment centers. Early on Thursday, September 11, an SOS went out for another doctor: A PLEA for a fellow doctor's life  My colleague Dr. Olivette Buck is one of the most dedicated and determined physicians I know. She had worked for over 20 yrs as a teacher before entering medical school and finally graduating the same year as me-in 2002. A patriot and focused individual. Further to this, she is soon to be ( or perhaps already) a member of the West African College if Physicians. One of the few to recently challenge this position. A mother of three and a dedicated Christian. She also unfortunately happens to be the first female physician  infected in Sierr...

Discussions about Ebola are everywhere in Sierra Leone: in taxis, at the market, on the street, and at home. Understanding of the disease is growing but myths are still alive:  "I woke up last night and washed my body with salt, Ebola can't touch me now, this is what a pastor told me." "Ebola will be over when the rainy season ends." "I drink a pint of beer every night, so Ebola can't touch me." "My body is porous, if I go to the provinces I will catch the disease immediately." "People don't realize it, but Ebola is just cholera in disguise." (Unicef Sierra Leone)   Professor Jimmy Kandeh put it succinctly when he posted on his Facebook wall that “Parallels between the war in Sierra Leone and the current Ebola outbreak are unmistakable and instructive.” Both threatened national security and the  survival of our people; both emanated from across the border but found fertile ground in our country; the governm...