Red Cross duo tell of uphill Ebola war

Hilary Wong
Wednesday, August 27, 2014


The last two Red Cross volunteers to return from a monthlong stint in Ebola-ravaged Liberia said a broken health-care system and discrimination are making the battle against the killer virus more difficult in the West African nation.Public health specialist May Yeung Pui-shan and clinical psychologist Eliza Cheung Yee-lai, both from the Hong Kong Red Cross, were sent to Liberia on July 22 and arrived back on Friday. Three other volunteers sent in April returned the following month.
Yeung and Cheung were placed under medical surveillance for 21 days, the incubation period for the Ebola virus, after being checked by health workers at Chek Lap Kok airport.
The pair, who visited the capital Monrovia, and the counties of Bong and Monserrado, did not have any direct contact with patients but trained volunteers on the proper use of protective gear and in psychological counseling.
They said that in the country of more than 4 million people, fewer than 200 health workers were dealing with Ebola cases, and 60 of them have already succumbed to the deadly virus.
Cheung said the medical system in Liberia has broken down due to a lack of manpower, as well as protective gear and other equipment to deal with the outbreak, which started in March.
Even some doctors fled in fear. Many hospitals and clinics have also closed down.
"It was also very difficult for health workers to track down people who had close contact with Ebola patients because they are afraid of being discriminated against. They will hide instead of reporting they are family members or friends of patients," Yeung said. "On average we could just track two in each case."
Cheung also said superstitious locals think those infected by Ebola are possessed by "evil spirits." Others do not trust their own government and believe it made up the outbreak in order to receive foreign aid.
"We even saw Ebola patients dumped by their family, and corpses left on the street."
Cheung said she heard on the radio that even those pregnant were being turned away by hospitals since they would bleed. "They could therefore only give birth at home."
A shortage of food has made staples three times more expensive in places far from Monrovia. "Cargo ships transporting food do not dare berth in Liberia," Cheung said.
On the day the pair left Liberia, the government announced a nighttime curfew in Monrovia. This "heightened the horror in citizen's hearts because the last time such a curfew had been imposed was during the 1999 to 2003 civil war," Cheung said.
Of 1,082 people infected with Ebola in Liberia since March, 624 have died.
The total toll in West Africa stands at more than 1,400 with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria the other worst-hit nations.