• Latest
Worse than Ebola: Fear!

Is The Threat of Ebola Over?

6 years ago
More than 4,000 commercial loan deferrals in Grenada 

Mt Hartman investors to pay no less than US$55 million for land ownership

5 hours ago
National Youth Parliament to mark Commonwealth Day 2021

National Youth Parliament to mark Commonwealth Day 2021

7 hours ago
RGPF Reports 77% detection for 2014

Equipment seized from Victoria businessman

10 hours ago
Cruise ship cancellations

GoG committed to balancing development with environmental concerns

14 hours ago
Third Tissue Cultured Banana Pilot Project training

Third Tissue Cultured Banana Pilot Project training

1 day ago
Property Tax 2015

Taxes due for March 2021

1 day ago
President Maduro Invites Caricom Chairman to Mediate in Venezuela Dispute

Venezuela donates US$200,000 to Grenada for purchase of Covid-19 vaccines 

1 day ago
June 2013 CXC (CSEC) Summary

CXC strategy for 2021 regional summer examinations

1 day ago
This Day in History

This Day in History: 3 March 1795

2 days ago
Archaeological fieldwork completed at La Sagesse

Archaeological fieldwork completed at La Sagesse

2 days ago
Reopening of schools: Phased approach to accommodate CXC exams

Consumables for Schools Advisory

2 days ago
Grenada inaugurates its renovated Olympic Committee with support from Panam Sports

Press Statement from the Grenada Olympic Committee

2 days ago
NOW Grenada

Main Header Ad 468x60

booked.net
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
NOW Grenada
No Result
View All Result

Article Header

Is The Threat of Ebola Over?

This story was posted 6 years ago
18 January 2015
in Health
4 min. read
Share

by Dr Martin Forde

It is quite illuminating to see how transient the human attention span is. Just a few months ago, it seemed that no one was talking about anything other than the Ebola Armageddon that was certain to overwhelm our global community, including the Caribbean quarters, leaving hundreds, thousands, (millions?) of victims in its wake.

World interest in the December 2013 outbreak of Ebola peaked in October 2014, but since then has steadily faded in the face of more gruesome, violent assaults on our civil societies. There have been tragic plane crashes and even more tragic stories of terrorists killing people while they are at work or just happening to live in a village or town where some ‘terrorist’ organization wants to make a statement by killing all its inhabitants.

Juxtaposed against these exigent demands for our attention, one could argue that the Ebola crisis simply must take a back seat for now. But before we quickly do so, please note that this doesn’t mean that the 2013 Ebola outbreak has come to a complete end. Indeed, it most certainly has not.

To date, over 21,000 cases of Ebola have been reported in 8 countries, of which over 8,400 have died. By far, the vast majority of these Ebola cases and deaths have occurred in only three African countries – Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. While there have been recent indications that the numbers of new cases may be stabilizing or even decreasing in these three Ebola intense-transmission countries, still each week, hundreds of new persons are contracting this terrible disease and many continue to succumb to its potent assault on the human body.

During the latter half of 2014 when Ebola fear had reached epidemic proportions, many governments around the world, including those in the Caribbean, scrambled to make preparations for what almost everyone thought was going to be the eventual arrival of this dreaded disease on our shores.

While several knee-jerk reactions were made, the overall desire to check our ‘house’ and make sure that we could survive a direct hit by Hurricane Ebola were indeed warranted and necessary. True, the chances that Ebola would come to Grenada or anywhere else in the Caribbean for that matter were – and still remain – very slim. That said, as Hurricane Ivan painfully taught all Grenadians in 2004, slim does not mean zero.

A scan of what many researchers and public health officials have said over the course of this current Ebola outbreak clearly indicate that they are having a hard time predicting where it will show up next. Initially, many thought that Ebola would spread like a ravenous wild-fire from the three West African intense-transmission countries throughout the whole continent of Africa. Others thought that Ebola cases would start popping up at most major cities of the world given the ease at which people can travel and access any where in the world they wish to go. So far, none of these dire (and frightening!) scenarios have played out. Indeed, to date, a grand total of four Ebola cases have been diagnosed in the U.S. And as for the Latin American and Caribbean region, the number is (most thankfully) stuck on zero. Indeed, the above numbers certainly do not justify putting Grenada or any other country other than the three Ebola stricken countries on Red Alert.

Now while a ‘Red Alert’ isn’t currently justified, this should not mean ‘No Alert.’ Indeed, to adopt such a position would be tragic and potential fatal. A key reason why the 2013 Ebola outbreak spiraled from a small outbreak in Guinea to one where the whole world collectively thought this virus could by the 21st Century version of the Middle Ages Black Plague was precisely because no one, including the global health policing institution, the World Health Organization (WHO), initially took it seriously.

The outcome of this initially bland response is on stark display for all to see, at least in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. If we are to learn and benefit from this tragic misstep, it would thus be most prudent and wise if our Grenadian authorities were to take a quick check to see what has become of our initial, somewhat panicked, efforts to ‘put our house in order.’

In Grenada, the government, primarily though it’s Ministry of Health and it small but very committed staff, embarked upon several reviews of its policies and procedures. Additional personal protective equipment kits were ordered for the healthcare personnel who would have to treat any Ebola infected person. Several key persons received training locally and abroad. Indeed, serious efforts were made to see if Grenada could (would) be in a position to adequately and appropriately deal with any Ebola infected person.

The question now to be asked and answered is: Where are we in our preparations? Has all training that was identified as needed to deal with any Ebola outbreak been completed? Have all resource needs and gaps in our healthcare facilities been filled? Have the necessary protocols and procedures needed to treat any Ebola infected person arriving on our shores been clearly spelt out and all trained on how to implement them?

Again, while the threat of Ebola making an appearance in Grenada for 2015 remains very low, this shouldn’t prevent us from making all the preparations required as though we were expecting its arrival any day now. Time and fortune has been very kind to us. Let us not take this blessing for granted but rather make it count.

NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.

Tags: africadeathEbolahealthhurricanemartin fordewho
Next Post

Attack on Religious Leaders

Comment on story Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Home Sidebar NP 300x250

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved. Published by Aqua Design Inc. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Copyright NOW Grenada

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

NOW Grenada
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.