President Ernest Bai Koroma will today travel to Conakry to meet with his Liberian and Guinean counterparts as the three countries struggle to curb the deadly Ebola virus.
The three will be joined by the Director-General of the UN World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan who will launch a new joint US$ 100 million response plan as part of an intensified international, regional and national campaign to bring the outbreak under control.
"The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level, and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination,” says Dr Chan, adding that the countries had "identified what they need, and WHO is reaching out to the international community to drive the response plan forward.”
The meetings comes as both Liberia and Sierra Leone declared a public health emergency due to the outbreak, which essentially puts the entire states' resources towards the response.
In a nationwide address on Wednesday, President Koroma said "all epicenters of the disease" and "localities and homes where the disease is identified will be quarantined until cleared by medical teams". He called on the security forces to enforce the measures which also include the restriction of public meetings and gatherings "with the exception of essential meetings related to Ebola sensitization and education". He also cancelled his planned trip to Washington to attend the US-Africa summit and suspended all trips by ministers and other government officials except where "absolutely essential".
The emergency measures say "active surveillance and house-to-house searches shall be conducted to trace and quarantine Ebola victims and suspects".
Traditional and local authorities have been asked to promote intervention by establishing bye-laws to complement other efforts to deal with the outbreak.
He also imposed travel restrictions at the Freetown international airport for arriving and departing passengers who will be subjected to body temperature scan. This comes as two airlines - ARIK and ASKY cancelled all flights to the country.
Koroma said the measures would for an initial period of between 60 to 90 days, while he also declared Monday August 4 as "a National Stay at Home Day for Family Reflection, Education and Prayers on the Ebola outbreak".
"Extra-ordinary challenges require extra-ordinary measures" the president said.
He saluted health workers who have been killed in the fight against the virus calling them "true patriots, paragons of service" saying the outbreak will be "in honour of their memory".
"Sierra Leone is in a great fight" he said, adding "Failure is not an option. We all need to come together to win this battle" Koroma said.
(C) Politico 01/08/14
