Disaster Risk Reduction

By Ade Campbell
Wednesday April 13, 2016

President Ernest Bai Koroma has during a press conference held at State House on Thursday 8th April, 2016 restated his commitment to implementing robust post-Ebola programmes whilst he called for a collaborative effort in the Post-Ebola era of governance.

During the press briefing, the President acknowledged individuals and institutional efforts made by Sierra Leoneans including journalists.

Sorie and Sewa are from the same village, Kebala, in Sierra Leone, they and Yokie are best friends. The three young men came to Freetown together to study as student nurses. When the Ebola epidemic began, they were given the option to work in the “red zone”—the Ebola isolation unit at Connaught Hospital—and agreed, despite the danger. Their family and friends disowned them and they were thrown out of their lodgings but were able to share a small room at the hospital.

Trained to wear the full PPE protection suit, they set to work treating very sick and infectious Ebola patients. They worked the night shift and often lost 5 or 6 patients a night. Sorie describes many patients gripping him tightly until the moment they died.

see more at: https://www.linktv.org/shows/trust-docs/three-best-friends-fought-and-survived-ebola-in-sierra-leone

pic by (Darrell Gulin/Corbis)

Vaccinations could be the best defense against devastating population drops

Over the last 20 years, the wild populations of many of the world’s great apes have drastically declined. Recent surveys have suggested that several species of large primates, including chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, have experienced severe losses in population numbers. Now, some conservationists say that vaccinating great apes against diseases like the Ebola virus might be the quickest and most effective short-term step towards saving them from extinction.