The health fight continues

Malaria progress threatened by Ebola, drug resistance, says WHO
Though there have been steady gains in the fight against one of the world's deadliest diseases, challenges remain.
The past decade has seen major gains in the fight against malaria, with steadily declining cases, “dramatically” fewer deaths, and the global mortality rate nearly halved since 2000, according to a new report from the World Health Organization. But progress is fragile and there are many emerging challenges — including anti-malarial drug resistance and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has completely overwhelmed local health systems and had a “devastating impact on malaria treatment” in the region.

Be a part of Amnesty international Week

Nov 25 through December 10 (Amnesty International)

This year's theme--From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World

Dear Friends,

 When our homes are peaceful the world will experience peace.  We will love each other just as others love us!  When our homes are violent, everything around us is a threat, acts of kindness are interpreted as hatred. When our homes are violent, the utterance of the most simple word that reminds us of violence provokes anger and results in a violent reaction.

Join the international community of women and men, as they speak out this week against violence on us, women. Chances are you have experienced violence, know someone who has or is currently in a violent relationship. 

Getting the villagers to trust westerners can be an uphill task

Its sometimes not very easy to get through to my people . You can't blame them if they are not trusting , experience has thought them otherwise.

"Public health experts stress importance of trust in West Africa as they fight Ebola
When public health workers began canvassing West African villages this spring and summer warning of something called Ebola, they were met with fear — but not of the deadly virus. Residents said the outbreak was a scheme to collect aid money, or even to collect body parts. It wasn't until they saw Ebola's death toll that residents began to trust health workers. But if that trust had been in place when the virus first appeared, the outbreak, which has killed 5,000 people this year, might have gone differently, according to Tim Roberton and Hopkins colleagues, who evaluated the outbreak response for the Red Cross."

The Ebola Saga continues

Mourning the death of a selfless man who died as a hero trying to save his people. The Ebola saga continues.


Dr.Martin Salia, surgeon and a native of the West African nation whose family lives in Maryland, was flown from Sierra Leone on Saturday and rushed to the Nebraska Medical Center's Biocontainment Unit. He died about 36 hours later.

More Recent update !!

Johns Hopkins experts help train Congolese health workers to fight Ebola

Goal is to train 1,000 to combat outbreak in West Africa

As Ebola continues to all-too-swiftly spread and inflict its human toll in West Africa, overstretched and undermanned health care systems need all hands on deck. Johns Hopkins wants to help send in a cavalry.

A team of faculty members from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, School of Nursing, and the School of Medicine are assisting in an effort to train 1,000 Democratic Republic of Congo health care workers—including nurses, doctors, lab techs, and hygienists—to combat the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

The health care workers first will be trained in the DRC, then sent in waves to the West African locations where they are needed most. The first group will be deployed later this month.

"There simply are not enough health care workers in regions of Liberia now to effectively deal with this outbreak," said David Peters, chair of the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School and the team leader for the Johns Hopkins involvement in this initiative. "We need them."

Johns Hopkins researchers will all also work with those in Liberia and DRC to improve data collection and analysis, and to improve modeling based on this data for both epidemic response and preparedness.

The initiative, which will be logistically handled by UNICEF, is based on the Democratic Republic of Congo's experience in effectively dealing with seven Ebola outbreaks since 1976, and that government's offer to provide trained health workers to Liberia to assist with combating the current Ebola outbreak.

Peters, who recently returned from Liberia, said the DRC has a lot to offer, both in terms of manpower and capability.

"They've witnessed firsthand that a quick response is the most important," Peters says. "You also need comprehensive community outreach, good case identification and isolation, good burial measures, and good medical care. This is the type of knowledge we're looking to help pass on."

Things are slowing down with this outbreak !!

For Americans, Ebola still very much foreign thing
Specialist and others say there are signs that Americans have retreated from widespread Ebola panic and have reached a kind of equilibrium when it comes to the hemorrhagic fever that is ravaging parts of West Africa. In the news today ,
Haiti imposes West Africa travel ban as Ebola headlines fade in America

where do we go from here , dealing with those are still sick , others who have lost loved ones and most of all children who are now orphans as a result !!

Some questions and Answers to to the big issue at present !

How can you get infected with Ebola?

You can be infected with the Ebola virus by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of someone who is sick with Ebola. (Bodily fluids, according to the Centers for Disease Control, include “urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk and semen.” You could also be infected by needles or syringes contaminated with the virus or by contact with infected fruit bats or primates (like apes and monkeys).

What are some ways you can’t get infected with Ebola?

You cannot be infected with Ebola by contact with someone who is not ill. If a person is infected, but not exhibiting symptoms of Ebola, that person cannot infect you. You cannot be infected by casual (non-blood and non-body fluid) contact even with someone who is sick with Ebola. You can’t get it through the air, through water, or through food grown or legally purchased in the United States. There is no evidence that mosquitos or other insects can transmit Ebola.

Am I at risk for Ebola by doing what I do every day?

Going to class, attending programs, going out for coffee or participating in other typical activities are not risk factors for contracting Ebola. In the United States, we are at very low risk for an Ebola outbreak.