MSF closes final West Africa Ebola projects for survivors
“Over time and after treatment, the severity of people’s psychological and physical disorders has gradually diminished,” says Jacob Maikere, MSF head of mission in Sierra Leone. “Yet many survivors say that they are still deeply disturbed by the smell of chlorine, which immediately transports them back the horror of the Ebola management centers.”
Fight against discrimination and stigma
Ebola survivors and their families also faced stigma when they returned to their communities.
MSF, together with other organizations and alongside national initiatives, sent teams out into affected communities to spread health messages and to help reduce stigma and discrimination. In Guinea, for example, MSF reached 18,300 people through group and individual sessions.
“Stigma remains a huge issue for those who survived Ebola and for their families, despite awareness and information campaigns during and after the outbreak,” says Jacob Maikere. “The discrimination takes many forms, with people losing their jobs or their partners, or being rejected by their family or community, all of which can have a hugely destabilizing impact on their lives.”
Health workers hard hit
Health workers in the three worst-affected countries paid a heavy price for responding to the disease. Many lost their lives. Those who survived witnessed countless deaths, and had to live with the fear that they too would be infected in their own communities as Ebola spread.
“Health workers in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia saved many of their fellow citizens from Ebola,” says Ibrahim Diallo, MSF head of mission in Guinea. “But the virus created such fear in the country that many were viewed with suspicion or even discriminated against because of the contact that they had with people who were sick.”
MSF handing over post-Ebola care
In late September, MSF ended its medical and mental health programs for survivors in Guinea and Sierra Leone, while in Liberia, post-Ebola activities will finish before the end of the year. Most medical conditions affecting survivors, such as eye and joint problems, have now been treated, and MSF has arranged for those who need ongoing mental health support to receive continuing care within their national health systems or from other organizations.
Continued MSF care in West Africa
MSF says it will continue its efforts to provide services focusing on the unmet health needs of vulnerable people throughout the three affected countries.
“Any strengthening of health services in the three affected countries must include improving infection control measures, surveillance systems to ensure early monitoring of potential cases, and basic contingency plans allowing for a quick response to an outbreak of Ebola or other diseases,” says Mit Philips, health policy advisor for MSF. “The countries also need catch-up plans for services that lapsed during the epidemic, such as treatment for HIV and TB, as well as preventative services for which coverage remains low.”
In Monrovia, MSF has opened a pediatric hospital: Bardnesville Junction Hospital. Between January and August 2016, the hospital provided more than 3,280 emergency consultations and admitted 880 children as inpatients, mainly for malaria. The hospital’s neonatal unit has cared for 512 newborn babies.
MSF is also continuing to provide care to HIV patients in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, and maternity care in the Tonkolili and Koinadugu districts in Sierra Leone. The organization has also positioned emergency supplies in the region to make sure that medical teams can respond quickly to a future outbreak of Ebola or to other epidemic threats.
