I am not scared of Ebola.
I want to talk about Ebola. While this might not be the most romantic of topics, I have been overwhelmed lately with anger, disbelief, and sadness over the fear mongering tactics of the media and how it’s affected the way people are talking about Ebola.
Maybe I’m just sensitive. Maybe it’s because I used to work for a non-profit organization where every day I learned of the daily struggles of people in under-developed countries. Or it could be because I’ve walked through the slums of South Africa where violence and disease was rampant. I had the privilege to take medication to prevent myself from getting infectious diseases that the children I played with risked getting every day. This was in one of the most developed countries in Africa. I can’t even imagine what the sanitary and medical conditions must be like in the Ebola-ravaged countries, which rank as some of the poorest in the world. This is a huge part of why Ebola – and other epidemics like malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS – are so deadly in this part of the world.
“The most severely affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have very weak health systems, lacking human and infrastructural resources, having only recently emerged from long periods of conflict and instability,” according to the World Health Organization.
The infected are being turned away from overcrowded treatment centers, there is a lack of medical resources and staff, and there is miscommunication and mistrust of the locals, all of which is a toxic medley for the spread of disease.
For those of you who have 30 minutes, I highly recommend watching Danny Gold’s VICE News piece, “The Fight Against Ebola,” which showcases the core of the Ebola outbreak. It’s horrifying, heartbreaking, and real. He does a fantastic job of highlighting the faces at the front lines of the disease and explaining why this is spreading and killing so many people.
“It is not because of the virus per se, it is because of the way it is handled…the management of the disease,” says the medical director of Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. I thought this was the most impactful statement in the piece.
Instead of cracking jokes, listening to people make irresponsible comments with no basis in fact, or freaking out that you’re going to catch the virus (odds are, you won’t), I hope that we can start to focus on demanding immediate international aid. I am not scared of contracting Ebola in the US. What I am scared of is ignorance, of a slow international response, and lack of empathy towards the people who need it most.
Here’s some links to my favorite organizations in case you’re curious to learn more and take action:
