GOAL Chief Operations Officer, Jonathan Edgar will meet with British International Development Secretary, Justine Greening today (Tuesday, November 4th), to discuss the worrying escalation in the number of Ebola cases in the Port Loko region of Sierra Leone.
Although efforts to halt the virus in other parts of the country are starting to bear fruit, the focal point of the crisis in Sierra Leone has now switched to the west, where the number of new cases is rapidly outpacing available beds.
On a visit to Port Loko on Sunday, Anthony Banbury, the head of the UN’s Mission for Ebola Emergency Response said that Port Loko “is getting hit really hard now, it’s just getting slammed”.
GOAL has commended the British Government on the development of a 100-bed Ebola treatment centre at Port Loko that should be ready to receive its first patients by mid-December. GOAL will staff and manage this facility.
Although this centre will help ease the burden, Mr Edgar, who will travel to the region later this month, has stressed that similar support is urgently required to help turn the tide against the virus.
“Despite international assistance and attempts to scale-up control measures, infections remain high. Hundreds of new cases are being reported each week.
“Just 346 beds currently exist for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. This is just 29 per cent of the 1,198 beds required to isolate the disease. It is clear from these figures that additional beds and capacity are urgently required to address the outbreak.
“Thankfully, GOAL will very soon be in a position to offer this support, but other agencies must now step up to the mark. The British Government, the UN and other donors are building the treatment centres, but partners are desperately needed to manage them. It is the only way we will stop Ebola in its tracks.”
Despite reports of a slowdown in the numbers of cases and deaths in some of the affected countries, Mr Edgar has stressed that it would be a huge mistake to see this as a turning point in the fight against the disease.
“These figures are welcome, but we must be extremely cautious before we start declaring any victories. Cases are still rising in other regions and people are still dying. If Ebola has shown us anything is that we must not let our guard down for a moment.”
ENDS
For further comment, please contact GOAL COO, Jonathan Edgar on 00 353 (0)87 634 7993.
