The United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said that more than 3,700 children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone who have lost their parents to the deadly Ebola disease have been neglected by the communities they live.
Children as young as three or four years old are being orphaned by the disease and they are living alone in the hospitals where their parents had died or back in their communities where they live in total neglect.
The children are said to be living in appalling conditions and emergency responses are needed from all stakeholders fighting the disease in West Africa.
UNICEF said the number of Ebola orphans is likely to double by mid-October and that there is an urgent need to establish a system for identifying and caring for Ebola orphans to prevent another humanitarian crisis.
“Thousands of children are living through the deaths of their mother, father or family members from Ebola, these children urgently need special attention and support; yet many of them feel unwanted and even abandoned”.
“Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence, we cannot respond to a crisis of this nature and this scale in the usual ways. We need more courage, more creativity, and far more resources”.
“Orphans are usually taken in by a member of the extended family, but in some communities, the fear surrounding Ebola is becoming stronger than family ties”, UNICEF’s Manuel Fontaine said in a statement.
Ebola has killed more than 1,830 people in Liberia alone. President Barack Obama has said that Ebola is a global threat to humanity and that all nations should join the fight against it.
The World Health Organization has also warned that Ebola infections could increase to 20,000 by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak were not stepped up.
New figures suggest that 70% of those infected with Ebola in West Africa have died, putting the disease in a very deadly position.
According to health experts, Ebola Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and breakdown of central nervous system. The disease is said to spread by body fluids such as blood or saliva.
Fatality rate is said to be around 90% but current outbreak has a mortality rate of about 55% and incubation period is 2 to 21 days. There is no proven vaccine or cure as at now but supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhea and vomiting can help recovery.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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