Published on Jul 11, 2014
Since the outbreak of the deadly strain of Zaire Ebola in Guinea in February, many people have died as the disease has travelled to neighbouring Sierra Leone, Liberia and Mali. The outbreak has sent shock waves through communities who know little of the disease or how it is transmitted. The cases in Mali have added to fears that it is spreading through West Africa.
This latest outbreak, which has yet to be contained and is being considered by Doctors Without Borders as an "unprecedented epidemic," illustrates several troubling truths about global health care, emergency response to outbreaks, and the perception many have of a West subjecting the developing world to a "medical tyranny."
One must wonder then, if MSF and other global health agencies can train Ugandan medical staff and hand over responsibilities to prevent a future outbreak to the government of Uganda, why haven't similar provisions been undertaken in nations like Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Ebola outbreaks occur "primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests." Why then have nations in Central and West Africa not been prepared for such outbreaks -- particularly when the many of the nations that back MSF are already heavily involved in the internal affairs of many of these nations?
The Guardian's article, "How the World Health Organisation covered up Iraq's nuclear nightmare," illustrates how the WHO's conclusions were manipulated by politicized science, and offers the world a cautionary tale of how organizations like the UN and WHO cannot be entrusted to oversee issues of human health, our environment, or anything else upon which humanity's existence hinges.
This latest outbreak, which has yet to be contained and is being considered by Doctors Without Borders as an "unprecedented epidemic," illustrates several troubling truths about global health care, emergency response to outbreaks, and the perception many have of a West subjecting the developing world to a "medical tyranny."
One must wonder then, if MSF and other global health agencies can train Ugandan medical staff and hand over responsibilities to prevent a future outbreak to the government of Uganda, why haven't similar provisions been undertaken in nations like Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Ebola outbreaks occur "primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests." Why then have nations in Central and West Africa not been prepared for such outbreaks -- particularly when the many of the nations that back MSF are already heavily involved in the internal affairs of many of these nations?
The Guardian's article, "How the World Health Organisation covered up Iraq's nuclear nightmare," illustrates how the WHO's conclusions were manipulated by politicized science, and offers the world a cautionary tale of how organizations like the UN and WHO cannot be entrusted to oversee issues of human health, our environment, or anything else upon which humanity's existence hinges.
Posts
