‘Unless immediate action is taken in Liberia – including isolating patients, a quarantine programme and protective gear – the death toll will likely reach into the thousands,’ says Dr Frank Glover, a medical missionary who partners with SIM International (known in the UK as Serving in Mission).
Glover was testifying before a US congressional subcommittee on August 7 about combatting the Ebola threat in Liberia.
In late July, two members of the medical team working at SIM’s ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, tested positive for Ebola. Team member Nancy Writebol and medical director Dr Kent Brantly were both flown back to the US to receive treatment at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Two members of ELWA Hospital’s Liberian staff have died from the disease.
‘SIM Liberia has had to evacuate all of our personnel from the country,’ comments SIM Liberia’s Director Will Elphick. ‘ELWA Hospital, which has been the foremost treatment centre for Ebola in the country, had to close for a short time to decontaminate the facilities. It has now reopened to take on obstetrics patients, since most other hospitals are closed. As and when resources are available, the hospital will open further services.’ Because of the lack of staff to run the Ebola Case Management Center at ELWA, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Liberian Government have taken on the running of the unit, with the assistance of SIM at ELWA.
The ongoing issue for ELWA Hospital is funding, because the usual sources of revenue have dried up. This 17-bed isolation unit remains the only such facility in the country.
ELWA Radio continues to broadcast programmes that share the gospel, as well as those that educate people about the Ebola virus. The President of Liberia, in conjunction with the country’s churches, called for a three-day fast and prayer for those suffering from Ebola and to pray for its eradication.
