Is West Africa still a part of the African Union? That is the question in the minds of individuals and stakeholders who have observed the AU’s silence in the wake of the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease. Nine months after the latest eruption of the disease, it appears the 16 countries in the West Africa region have been excised from the league of the AU.

More than 4,000 people have been infected with half of them resulting in fatalities in the region since December. According to the World Health Organisation, the virus can infect up to 20,000 in the latest outbreak.

But despite the grim report, the best intervention so far from AU member countries has been immediate shutting down of borders and the AU Ebola Fund, which has so far received donations from only a handful of countries such as Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Gambia and the DRC.

But an international organisation, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, thinks the AU can do better. Calling on the AU to lead the response to EVD in the West African region, the African Bureau Chief, Dr. Penniah Lutung Amor, has canvassed a strategic action plan to beat the virus.

In a recent press release, Amor was emphatic that the EVD needed to be a priority of the AU if more lives would not be lost to the disease.

The call is coming just as United States President Barrack Obama said he would on Tuesday announce plans to lead the global onslaught on the virus.

“The AU can and should do more to avert the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. We are currently in the ninth month of this outbreak and we hope that in the spirit of the African Union, the AU is finally prioritising this matter so that we as a continent can support the countries ravaged by this epidemic and show the rest of the world the power of rallying together to bring this epidemic under control,’’ she said.

Painful deaths

The AHF is particularly pained after the death of Dr. Sheikh Humarr Khan, a top Sierra Leonean physician on July 29. Khan, 39, was an Ebola and Lassa fever specialist and was a medical officer with the AHF’s country programme. He died in an isolation unit in the country after being treated by the Medecines Sans Frontieres.

At a recent meeting of the AU Commission, its chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, had told members to step up efforts to defeat the disease in the West African region.

“We are gathered to show solidarity, and to develop a collective, comprehensive and coordinated strategy, so that our sisters and brothers and the leadership of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other affected countries know that they are part of a broader, caring African and global family,’’ she had said.

Still, the voice of the AU has been missing in the global response plan. However, the Economic Community of West African States has risen in defence of the AU.

In an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday, the ECOWAS acting director of communication, Mr. Haruna Warkani, said the sub-continental body was expecting more assistance from the AU.

Warkani said, “You may not know this but there is an on-going meeting with all donor agencies and Ebola is on the agenda. The AU is equally represented. I think the AU is still working out some modalities. Assistance comes in various levels in terms of logistics, technical support and expression of concerns. ECOWAS has been reaching out to all stakeholders.

“Naturally during epidemics like this, you would expect response to be slow because of bureaucratic bottlenecks. Meetings have to be held and decisions implemented. But the fact that it has identified with the region, through statements and expression of concern, is a clear indication of support.’’

Obama’s war plan

Meanwhile, the US is dramatically escalating its efforts to combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa. President Obama had been billed to announce the America’s battle-plan on Tuesday during a visit to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The unprecedented response will include the deployment of 3,000 U.S. military forces and more than $500m in defence spending, drawn from funding normally used for efforts like the war in Afghanistan, senior administration officials outlined Monday, agency reports on Tuesday indicated.

Obama has called America’s response to the disease a “national-security priority,” with top foreign policy and defence officials leading the government’s efforts.

The officials said Obama believes that in order to best contain the disease, the U.S. must “lead” the global response effort. In the CDC’s largest deployment in response to an epidemic, more than 100 officials from the agency are currently on the ground and $175 million has been allocated to West Africa to help combat the spread of Ebola. Those efforts will be expanded with the assistance of U.S. Africa Command, which will deploy logistics, command and control, medical, and engineering resources to affected countries.

Officials said that the Department of Defense is seeking to “reprogram” $500 million in funding from the department’s “overseas contingency operations” fund to assist in the response. Obama has also requested another $88 million from Congress for the U.S. response, including $58 million to expedite the development of experimental treatments for Ebola.

The Pentagon will deliver 130,000 sets of personal protective equipment, thousands of kits used to test for the disease, two additional mobile lab units (one is already on the ground), and a 25-bed mobile hospital to the region. In addition, Africa Command engineers will construct additional treatment units, while the others set up a training center for to educate up to 500 health workers per week. The United States Agency for International Development will also airlift tens of thousands of home health kits and protection kits, including disinfectants and protective equipment, to be delivered to communities affected by the outbreak.

The U.S. effort, named Operation United Assistance, will be based out of Monrovia, Liberia, the country hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic and where the disease is currently spreading fastest, and will be commanded by an Army general. Obama’s announcement follows weeks of calls from global health organizations that global assistance, in particular American help, is needed to address the disease.

The World Health Organization announced last week that as of Sept. 7, there have been 4,366 confirmed, suspected, or probable cases of the disease, with 2,218 deaths. More troubling is the pace of infections, which has steadily risen despite local, regional, and international containment efforts. The WHO has predicted “thousands” of new infections in the coming weeks, calling on the global community to make an “exponential increase” in its response efforts.

U.S. officials have maintained that there is a minimal threat to the United States from the disease, but Obama warned in an interview earlier this month with NBC’s Meet The Press that failing to act could elevate the risk to the nation. “If we don’t make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa but other parts of the world, there’s the prospect then that the virus mutates,” Obama said. “It becomes more easily transmittable. And then it could be a serious danger to the United States.”

While the affected countries have imposed screenings at their airports to stop infected individuals from boarding aircraft, U.S. officials outlined efforts to build up detection and prevention capabilities at home, including new training efforts for airline employees and flight attendants to spot ill passengers. Customs and Border Protection officers manning ports of entry to the U.S. have also received additional training to spot potentially infected travelers. Currently the disease can only be spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected patients.

U.S. officials said that in addition to the potential for the disease to spread to the U.S., they are concerned by economic, security, and political instability in countries heavily affected by the outbreak.

Earlier this month, Obama released a video to the people of West Africa, raising awareness about the disease.

-Punch

Posted by admin on Sep 16 2014. Filed under Africa & World Politics, African Union (AU), Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry