Call to international community for joint efforts against disease
File Photo- AP
Chennai: India too, like other countries with high quality medical manpower and capabilities can contribute to the fight against the deadly Ebola epidemic by dispatching more personnel and aid to West Africa, said Martin Sloot, general director, MSF India Médecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF (Doctors Without Borders).
“It is important for the international community to come forward and help step up efforts on the ground,” Mr Martin adds. In an interview to DC, he said that MSF India has been sharing Ebola related information with different Indian institutions and hospitals identified as Ebola referral centres, based on requests from them. This included sharing of treatment protocols and technical guidelines on Ebola with NIV, Pune and MCGM, Mumbai.
He refused to comment on India’s preparedness in case of an Ebola outbreak as MSF India is not a part of their preparedness plans. “MSF is focused on the fact that too many people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are dying each day. We’re focused on saving lives where the outbreak is actually taking place and we need many others to be focusing on that too,” he said.
There needs to be a massive mobilisation of resources on the ground if we are going to contain this epidemic and ensure that many more lives aren’t lost, he said. The trend was difficult to follow, as there was a lull in cases in one area, only to see the numbers spike again later.
“What we know for sure is that the outbreak is far from over and more help is still desperately needed. Though countries like the US, UK, France, China and Cuba have started committing assets and personnel to the affected region, progress is slow. Isolation centres with trained health staff must be established now and that’s where our focus lies,” Mr Martin said.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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