Ebola Situation as a World Crisis - of Papua New Guinea - Case Study Example

Executive brief to the government of Papua New Guinea on Ebola Student’s Name Institution Introduction The world has experienced multiple cases of disease outbreaks some of which resulted to massive deaths. The world has been constantly sensitized over diseases such as HIV/AIDS whose medicine is yet to be found. There have been many talks on the outbreak of Ebola virus from mid this year, 2014 to date (Peter, 2014). The outbreak has attracted much attention from human health due to its extensive spread through Central Africa. The disease has posed a very high mortality rate among humanity living in West and Central Africa. Ebola is 30 years since it was discovered, but the outbreak that has been witnessed in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria can be ranked the worst of all. From 1976 to 2013, the registered cases of known Ebola infections were less than 1000 while between 2014 March and 2014 July 23 up to 1201 likely cases have been registered with 672 deaths confirmed (Geisbert et al., 2002). The current situation in Papua New Guinea has become extremely dangerous, and many fears exist on the possible spillover to other African countries and even Australia. The few comes due to the number of intensive care units that are relatively fewer and are being overwhelmed, which may result to high level of infection (Jared, 2010). One thing that is known about Ebola is that it can be transmitted through contamination of body fluids. There is even much danger, as those who are diagnosed by Ebola happen to be bleeding exposing those who are around to chances of being infected, as blood is highly infectious. This paper is meant to provide executive brief on how to contain Ebola in Papua New Guinea. It gives many details on the background of Ebola outbreak in Papua New Guinea. The paper also discusses the impact that Ebola has had on health and general wellbeing of the people in Papua New Guinea (Jared, 2010). Recommendations on how to deal with the outbreak of this infectious disease are also given great depth and finally the paper gives a brief but comprehensive conclusion. Background and the Context of Ebola Outbreak Just like any other countries, Papua New Guinea has been able to experience outbreaks in the past years. The country has been very prepared to handle and to reduce the possible spread of most of the diseases. The country has never been hit so hard by disease outbreaks like the current situation of Ebola. As a country that is concerned about the wellbeing of its citizen both living in the country and beyond, it works so hard to find the best way to arrest the situation. The very first step that would be chosen to help in the understanding how to best handle the situation is by understanding what exactly Ebola is. Ebola is not a constant problem for human living in Papua New Guinea and therefore it is wise to begin by understanding its hide out. The thought of asymptomatic and natural reservoir of Ebola is fruit bats and the other unrelated but with similar symptoms is Hendra virus. Hendra is known to be very dangerous virus for horses, Ebola has been found to be killing even the great apes, gorillas, and Chimpanzees. Human beings that have been found to be infected with Hendra virus are believed to have contracted the disease from sick horses that were also infected by fruit bats. Ebola cases on human can be traced to the exposure of bat droppings or hunting of primates for food, which is a common practice with a section of people in Papua New Guinea. Ebola has symptoms that are not very different from those of commonly known diseases. Ebola symptoms include headaches, diarrhea, fever, and nausea and a few others. All these symptoms can be associated to multiple other viruses including severe influenza. The most significant difference that is seen with Ebola is that it goes further to break blood vessel walls and results to extensive bleeding. Unlike with other viruses such as influenza, Ebola has incubation period of between two to three weeks. It would, therefore, important to have those suspected patients to be quarantined for quite a long time to be suspected contacts. The very first case of Ebola outbreak was reported in Guinea on 2014 March before it fast spread to neighboring countries such as Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia (Barrette et al., 2009). The records that were taken as of 15 August 2014 showed that the affected population was 2127 patients with 1145 reported dead. In its initial state, the government of Papua New Guinea and other Western nations presumed that Ebola case was just but a minor African epidemic, which would disappear after a short while. However, the spread has become so fast that forcing USA and Western Europe to act. So much is being done to find a cure for the disease but for now, the best that can be done is only to avert infection to ensure that no further transmission. Ebola however is spreading so first and can be possible ranked as one of the world’s most dreaded disease. The difficulties in containing the spread of this disease are majorly seen in West and part of Central Africa where most of the health infrastructure are highly destroyed by wars. It is in countries where the level of poverty, ignorance, fear, superstition, and distrust of government is so high. Out of this, people are easily exposed to animals that contain Ebola virus as such animals are used for food. The viral disease has also been spread to countries like UK, USA, and even Australia and much more fear is being instilled of continuous spread. When evacuating infected citizens of different countries such as Australia back for treatment, it remains safe especially when under supervision of skilled doctors but may fail when medical care facilities are not properly organized on the arrival. Efforts that have been put to arrest the spread has met various resistance with some countries such as Liberia treating the outbreak as a hoax and those health workers who have gone to help them are only intending to kill them. So many incidences of health workers being attacked have been witnessed in Liberia and Guinea. In Liberia health care workers who were spraying chlorine, which is a cheaper and effective way of countering the spread of Ebola were severely attacked. Similar incident was witnessed in Guinea where medics and Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) were surrounded by villagers and attacked them claiming that medics brought Ebola to their country and claiming to be controlling it. The spread of Ebola remains a great threat to the entire government of Papua New Guinea and the world at large. The efforts by the government to scare and threaten to take legal actions to those who have been found sheltering or hiding those suspected to be of Ebola cases seem to have not been very fruitful. Several international communities have been seen rushing to assist, but they are more of a problem than a solution to the current problem (Dan, 2014). Reason for saying that is how un-coordinated the international community looks when they come to assist. They do not have anyone who is taking charge of the group that has gone to settle the situation, which may raise eyebrows especially for the Africans who seem to believe that Ebola is being brought to their countries to kill them. Several bodies have responded to the current situation some of them include ministry of health for Guinea and Sierra Leone, Liberia, MSF, World Health Organization, and many other. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has responded by launching emergency response in Guinea. There are nurses, doctors, sanitation experts, and logisticians have already jetted into the country and other more teams are exported. An Isolation unit has been setup by MSF for any suspected cases in regions like Guérékoré in the southern of Guinea. A number of locals have resorted to help MSF emergency team in locating those that have been infected and still in various homes. So many African Countries have responded by closing their borders while most of the international agencies continue to offer professional and other resources to help track and treat cases and contacts. A number of global companies have also been seen pulling out their workers while almost all nations are keeping a close watch of those flying to and from places that have been marked with Ebola cases (Jared, 2010). Ebola crisis has left no part of the country immune, as every part seems threatened by this problem. Western countries are never safe, as a number of patients have been diagnosed with the Ebola virus after traveling from Ebola infected areas. Health workers have been equally infected and around 216 health workers had died by the end of September 2014. So many countries have improved their health care centers in order to respond promptly to the epidemic. There is global cost cutting, and people are advice to sure that both national and stew public health services are kept strong and that the funding for UN agencies such as WHO and FAO be maintained (Shoemaker et al., 2011). Global resources include high-security laboratories such as AAHL and continual support through resourcing and training of courageous doctors and researchers who have agreed to work with these highly dangerous pathogens are highly recommended. There is a constant challenge that the humanity is facing through zoonotic virus such as Ebola, SARS, Hendra, MERS, and many others. All these emerge from wildlife reservoirs, and there are high chances that such encounters are increasing due to extensive clearance of forest, high population, air travel that is highly rapid (Shoemaker et al., 2011). Everyone needs to be very careful and highly prepared, as it has been clearly shown that nature becomes the worst bioterrorist. The impact of Ebola on Health and Wellbeing The recent outbreak was considered normal breakout that would not take long before it is contained and disappear but it has proved to stay much longer with its impact felt in all areas. The impact of Ebola has not only been felt on the health and wellbeing of the infected people but also to even those that are not infected with a virus (Shoemaker et al., 2011). Health sector as a whole has also been highly impacted from point to point. In this section, various areas that have been impacted with the outbreak are highlighted. Impact on the Infected Patients One very worrying state of this disease is that it does not have effective treatment except for supportive therapy known as euphemistic. The virus also spreads so fast through contact with fluids that are infected like blood. The moment one is infected with Ebola, internal organs are attacked so rapidly and various connective tissues. The patient also experiences aches, vomits, severe bleeding, cases of grand mal seizures, and even mental impairment. Before such symptoms are seen with the patients, the virus is known to take between 2 and 21 days in the period referred to incubation. After this period, there is the initial presentation, which is not a specific febrile illness with vomiting, myalgia, and diarrhea (Shoemaker et al., 2011). This continues and may end in death of the patient, which is usually a result of shock and multi-organ failure. While infected, the viral particles penetrate through mucosal surfaces and uses needle stick to break into the skin. Issues of aerosol transmission are not very common but have also been reported in the laboratory animals. Patients infected with Ebola will have infectious body fluids up to the time the virus is cleared, which usually takes a number of weeks for the patients who have survived the disease. Impact on Health and Well-being of Children and Women Ebola has highly disrupted health services meant for children, has led to the closure of most of the schools in Guinea, and thousands of children have remained without parents. Most health facilities in Papua New Guinea are closed or are only partially functional (BBC, 2014). Protective vaccination meant for children are no longer provider, which has lead to several deaths of children that are below five years. Pregnant women do not have sufficient places for safe delivery and most of them die while delivering or out of insufficient care after delivery. Most of the children whose parents have died of Ebola face stigma issues, and some are even being rejected for fear of infecting others (CDC, 2014). Other people look at them as a source of trouble and associating these children as a source of bad luck. Most of these children are below two years, and they are left roaming streets as they lack parental care. They do not have proper health care, proper shelter, and nutrition and they look very venerable. Impact on Health Care Industry Several incidences have been reported about nurses who have been infected with Ebola virus. This has significantly exposed how risky it has become to even health care workers who are charged with the responsibility of treating and containing the spread of Ebola (Latika, 2014). There are high chances that the experience that Papua New Guinea is likely to face will get worse, as below every doctor there is multiple staff working below him or her. In the event that one doctor is infected, there are high chances that those working below them will be exposed to the virus. The spread may be so first and would lead to infection of even patients that are only suspected but does not have a virus (Smith et al., 2013). The infection of nurses and doctors who are treating Ebola patients is because Ebola has overwhelmed heath care systems (Australian News, 2014). The result of that is fractured and inadequate responses to Ebola while at the same time it has resulted to increase in the mortality rate caused by other conditions such as cholera, malaria, child health, and maternal. It is through this that nurses, doctors, and most care workers have contracted the disease. Besides being overloaded, health system is reluctant in increasing citizens who seek medical attention for fear of being able to contract the disease. Ebola and World Health Organization Ebola crisis has highlighted so much on the present weakness of world health organization (WHO). The organization is known to have moral standing and unparalleled legitimacy on issues that touch on global health. The aspiration of WHO is known to achieve “Health for all” but the fact shows that it has significantly fallen below this aspiration. The crisis has exposed how the organization lacks budget capacity, and how it lacks control over the budget it draws (Sarah, 2014). The same situation was witnessed way 1996 to 2001 in the proliferation of HIV/AIDS. The organization does not seem competent enough to face situations such what is facing Papua New Guinea and therefore overreliance on WHO should be discouraged. Key Issues That Require Attention over Ebola Crisis Having discussed the crisis in entirety, there are key issues that Papua New Guinea has to give attention (Sam, 2014). As it has been repeated all over this paper, the virus does not have treatment yet and that preventing its spread is a much that can be done. For the risk to be properly assessed and contained, the following must be noted. The risks of infecting other patients in the entire Papua New Guinea have to be properly assessed, and necessary measures put in place. The government has to set aside adequate funds to improve health facilities to be able to accommodate more patients suspected of Ebola. All level of government and community as a whole has to be committed to fighting the current outbreak. Several international agencies that are sending their representatives should be advised to be organized if the community is to have faith in them. Every group of people; aged, young, female, children and any other group is a potential carrier of this disease and therefore everyone has to be careful. World Health Organization seem not to be well prepared to face this outbreaks and therefore Papua New Guinea and any other government have to ensure that they put necessary measures to combat the crisis (Peter, 2014). Health care doctors are equally exposed, and it is very dangerous as they can easily infect their juniors and even unsuspecting patients. Recommendation for Better Management of Ebola Crisis To be able to manage Ebola crisis at the present and even in the future, the government has to implement various strategies for better management. Some of which include: All level of Papua New Guinea government must jointly come up with a national and regional campaign to sensitize citizen on issues of Ebola (Shoemaker et al., 2011). The campaign should inform people on the possible symptoms of Ebola and how one should react should any person be suspected of the disease. Structured risk management policies of all health care facilities have to be reviewed to be able to accommodate similar situations in both the short run and even in the future (Jared, 2010). The current risk management policies seem to too inflexible to respond to the current situation. The government has to set considerably larger amount of money and other resources on improving the state of Healthcare facilities to help accommodate Ebola patients and those who are dying of other common diseases such as malaria and cholera (Paul, 2014). The government has to ensure that those flying out and inside the country are subjected to comprehensive medical checkup to ensure that patients are properly contained, and those who are not infected are not infected . A child that is left orphans and is being stigmatized should attract the attention of by private bodies or the government as through such stigma; they can end up taking their lives. It is believed that the disease has resulted from eating animals that contain Ebola virus such as gorilla (CDC, 2014). What has promoted this is the high level of poverty in Papua New Guinea; the government has to ensure that poverty management strategies are planned enable people have safer meal. Conclusion Ebola situation has become a world crisis, and Papua New Guinea has to treat with much seriousness, as there are still many fears that it can spread everywhere. As intensive care units are getting overwhelmed and the rate of infection continuous to grow, there is no clear treatment of the viral disease (Leroy, et al., 2009). So many people decide to die at home when they hear there is no treatment, which is the main reason the disease is spreading so fast. Those who are extremely sick do bleed, and it is through the body fluid that the virus is extremely infectious. The government has to come out, expand health care organization, and improve these facilities to be able to accommodate more patients. The government also needs to create awareness, as that would be essential in controlling the spread of this disease. References Australian News (2014). AMA head attacks Australia’s response to Ebola as shambolic, The Australian News. 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