Ebola in West Africa: MSF's blunt assessment.

Ebola in West Africa: MSF's blunt assessment. HT: Crof.

Via MSF's Ebola page, a nation-by-nation summary of the situation. Scroll down to find it. Excerpt:

Sierra Leone 

Update: October 16, 2014 

Every district in Sierra Leone is now affected by the epidemic. New hotspots for the disease include the capital, Freetown, and the areas of Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba. The government has put five of the worst-affected districts under quarantine, setting up checkpoints on roads to prevent people leaving the area—measures that affect between one and two million people. 

The government’s response is hampered by a lack of resources and coordination at both national and district level. There is no strong surveillance system in place, while up to 85 percent of calls to the national telephone helpline get no response. Transit centers are full and management is an issue, creating the risk of cross-contamination. 

As a result of overcrowding, delays in lab testing, and too few ambulances, staff in transit centers are obliged to send people untested to CMCs, risking that positive cases infect those who are negative. As there are few CMCs, and these are often far away, people often die on the long journey there. Dead bodies have the highest viral load possible, putting other passengers at risk. 

With so many deaths from Ebola, we are seeing an increasing number of orphaned children in our centers, and a lack of caregivers. 

The international response is beginning to get underway, but it is slow and uncoordinated. Governments (including the UK and China) and various NGOs have sent teams to construct new centers at different locations around the country, including Jiu, Port Loko, and Freetown. Getting these new centers up and running is a matter of urgency.