Ebola Viral Disease in West Africa: A Threat to Global Health, Economy and Political Stability

Omoleke, Semeeh Akinwale; Mohammed, Ibrahim; Saidu, Yauba

Arguably, there seems to be no sense of effectiveness on the part of the respective governments to resolve the imbroglio in health system despite the public health emergency-EVD outbreak. 50, 51 Clearly, of all the affected countries, perhaps only Nigeria fared better in terms of coordination, emergency preparedness and responsiveness, and this contributed to the attainment of earlier containment which was applauded internationally. It is worth noting that health professionals in Nigeria went on strike just shortly before the outbreak of Ebola due to chronic structural and administrative problems. Perhaps, the outbreak in Nigeria could have been contained much earlier than it was, if the medical workers were not on strike. Urgent action is needed from SSA governments to prepare their nations for imminent public health challenges-be it from familiar communicable and emerging non-communicable diseases or re-emerging infectious diseases. In other words, effective stewardship, coordination and adequate financing of health systems are urgently needed to ensure adequate staff training and retention, build new health facilities or strengthen existing ones, and to procure and distribute capital health equipment and essential medical supplies.