The Sierra Leone Telegraph: 3 September 2014
Report from the Sierra Leone Embassy in Beijing says that, the Department of International Cooperation of the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, has sent eight more personnel of the Chinese African Aid Expert Team, to support Ebola virus control and laboratory investigation in Sierra Leone.
This is seen as a continuation of the support the Chinese government is giving to Sierra Leone in helping to combat the virus.
Last month, support in the form of medical equipment, worth 10 Million Yuan was airlifted to Sierra Leone by the Chinese Government, making that support second in a row.
The supplies included medical protective wear, disinfectants, thermo-detectors and medicines.
During the month of August, also, China sent expert team of three doctors to Sierra Leone to help contain the spread of Ebola Virus Disease.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has in a meeting with UN Secretary-General in August, pledged further, China’s strong readiness to help in ensuring International Control of the Ebola epidemic.
Ebola has claimed over 1,000 lives in the West African countries.
Sierra Leone continues to put measures in place to tackle the Virus, with support from external donor partners, including the World Health Organization and MSF.
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to China – Victor Bockarie Foh, says that he sees this latest development as “a continued demonstration by the People’s Republic of China of their readiness to stand by Sierra Leone in times of greatest need.”
Sierra Leone, he said, appreciates all the support the Chinese Government is giving to the country’s health sector in particular, and also their tremendous interventions in various other sectors, including Sierra Leone’s infrastructural development, education and agriculture.
At the sub-regional level, Ambassadors of the Mano River Union (MRU) countries in the People’s Republic of China have called for collaborative efforts in the fight against the deadly Ebola disease.
The latest Ebola update from the ministry of health in Freetown, announced yesterday, showed that the total number of cumulative confirmed deaths stood at 396, with the number of confirmed cases now standing at 1,115.
But this sharp rise in confirmed cases, overshadows the fact that the total number of those sufferers believed to have survived the illness, now stands at 251.
The total number of probable and suspected cases stands at 111, with the number of probable and suspected Ebola deaths at 48.
The WHO is predicting that by the start of next year, the total number of Ebola cases in Sierra Leone would have risen to over 5,000.
Beggars can’t be choosers! But it is important that all material donations, such as protective wear, for the use of medical and support staff in the Ebola eradication efforts, are scrutinised and vetted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) before local distribution.
It is no secret that the quality control of some countries’ products (eg China) to some areas of the globe like Sierra Leone is POOR. Records have revealed that Chinese anti-malaria drugs (artesimin) in Government clinics are substandard and ineffective.