Liberia responds to prediction of 1.4 million Ebola cases by January

Liberia responds to prediction of 1.4 million Ebola cases by January. HT: Crof.

Via FrontPageAfrica: 1.4M Ebola by Cases Jan? Liberia Welcomes Troops - What’s Next? Excerpt:

Damning new “worst-case-scenario” projections by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, that if nothing is done to effectively control the outbreak — there could be 1.4 million Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone by Jan. 20 and an earlier report by the New England Journal of Medicine that the number of Ebola cases could hit 21,000 in six weeks, coincides with the start of arrival of some 3,000 United States Troops, pledged by President Barack Obama to help control the epidemic at its source in West Africa. 

For Liberia, which has taken the biggest toll, fears are already beginning to arise that the government, which has been widely criticized over its handling of the outbreak, risks shifting responsibility on the Americans to solve the problem which has so far resulted in an estimated 5,800 illnesses with half of those numbers befalling Liberians. 

Opposition Liberty Party political leader Charles Walker Brumskine in an Op-Ed in FrontPageAfrica cautions the Liberian government against relying too much on America to rid the menacing virus from its midst. 

Says Brumskine: “As we welcome the intervention of the United States of America to help deal with the national health catastrophe, occasioned by the Ebola outbreak, let us not forget that the responsibility of containing the outbreak and eventually eradicating the Ebola virus from Liberia remains ours, as a Government, a nation, and a people." 

‘Natural Responsibilities'  

Cllr. Charles Brumskine says the beefed up U.S. intervention should greatly assist in the fight against the Ebola virus, as the US military’s unique expertise in engineering, and command and control should be especially useful in dealing with many of the infrastructural and logistical challenges. But he, however, cautions that that the intervention is not intended to be, and will not be a panacea for dealing with the Ebola crisis. 

“It most certainly will not rebuild our health care system. This is something that Liberia will have to do for itself. So, whether it is controlling the epidemic or mitigating the adverse economic, social, or political impacts on our nation, we must remain cognizant of our national responsibilities.” 

Asserts Brumskine: "The experts have told us, in no uncertain terms, that Ebola is a public health problem, which, like any other public health issue, is more effectively dealt with through prevention rather than cure. So, as the Americans assist us in the short term, it remains our responsibility, as a nation, to deal with the real public health issue of prevention.”