Thank you for your compelling article, Demilitarising epidemics in Africa. Where’s the epidemic, the worst outbreak in world history, please? Ecowas estimated for 2013 that the population of “West Africa” is approximately 340 million. Early in September the number of deaths attributed to Ebola in West Africa was 1,200, which is 0.00036% of West Africa’s population. According to your recent article, the Obama administration pledged US$1.26 billion to fighting against Ebola that has already claimed more than 5,000 lives in West Africa. This campaign to stop the worst virus outbreak in history has less warrant than claiming to invade Iraq because of their hidden weapons of mass destruction.
Peter Piot, the Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, former head of UNAids and a Professor of Global Health, has declared a health emergency due to Ebola outbreak in West Africa, commanding US$11 million in the last few days to roll out a new experimental drug in the effort to manage the virus.
Emeritus Professor of African history Charles L Geshekter (State University of California at Chico) recently queried: “Does anyone reference the Ebola outbreak in 1995 in western Congo (in the city of Kikwit)?” There, the actual estimates of the population wander from 400,000 to 1 million and the death toll had been claimed to reach anywhere from 350 to 500,000. Even so, the whole scare died down quickly and cheaply once the filthy hospital (and moratorium) were cleaned up. The result was that the Ebola was contained in a few days.
There is an experimental vaccine, currently in trial in UK. With the distribution due in December, scare-mongering is next on the treatment regime plan. BBC World Service had a special feature in the news alerting the world to the current state of the Ebola Crisis Outbreak in Ghana. Absolutely no cases to report whatsoever… but still room to manipulate fear, because of the situation in neighboring countries. Industries and import schedules upset, prices on necessity goods rising because of this disruptive exercise to build a market for the vaccine industry.
Jerry Brown, a medical officer in Liberia who must be high level or he would not be on the BBC World Service getting interviewed, was just telling the BBC that he has no idea and a fortiori no control over the nature of the military personnel being sent to Monrovia by the US to help with this historically sinister Ebola outbreak. So the BBC closes the clip by saying they will try to pose his questions to the US representatives in charge of publicising what is, essentially, an undercover military occupation, dressed as public health assistance.
No one appears to have involved the Liberian Ministry of Health in determining the kind of expertise coming. They reported as not knowing whether they are being sent combat soldiers to constrain the population’s mobility, or trained medical personnel capable of handling a range of medical emergencies and needs for primary health care.
Ken Bugul Mbye
Fajara
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