SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaking in 2011. (Photo: Chatham House)
'We Will Lose This Battle:' Liberian President Implores Obama for Help Fighting Ebola
“I am being honest with you when I say that at this rate, we will never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us,” says President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Sep 14, 2014
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf penned a letter to President Obama this week urging the U.S. government to take more aggressive action to help the West African country fight the deadly Ebola virus outbreak, which first broke in March and continues to spread rapidly.
"I am being honest with you when I say that at this rate, we will never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us," wrote Sirleaf in the letter, which was dated September 9 and viewed by the New York Times and Reuters. "Only governments like yours have the resources and assets to deploy at the pace required to arrest the spread," she wrote, adding, "Without more direct help from your government, we will lose this battle against Ebola." Among Sirleaf's requests are 1,500 hospital beds around the country and a 100-bed hospital in the capital of Monrovia, which is ground zero for the disease outbreak.
Half of the more than 2,400 recorded Ebola deaths since March have taken place in Liberia, and the World Health Organization recently warned that infections are quickly multiplying in this country. Meanwhile, Liberia's health care system, which has been devastated by decades of structural adjustment programs imposed by Western financial institutions, is unable to keep pace with the epidemic. Dangerous work conditions and poor and nonexistent pay, furthermore, are hampering the capacity of Liberian aid workers to respond to the public health emergency, prompting medical worker strikes and work actions.
Infectious disease experts and humanitarian aid workers have criticized the United States, as well as the World Health Organization and United Nations, for failing to aggressively mobilize to quell the crisis. The U.S. has so far committed approximately $100 million of medical and protective equipment, according to Reuters. While the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced it is transferring a 25-bed field hospital to Liberia to help fight the disease, there is some question as to whether these resources will be used to treat Liberians.
Humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has erected numerous treatment centers in affected areas but has repeatedly warned that the need is far greater than they or other medical caregivers are able to meet. In a statement delivered to United Nations member countries earlier this month, MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu blasted the international community for failing to take action. "Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it," he said. "Leaders are failing to come to grips with this transnational threat."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf penned a letter to President Obama this week urging the U.S. government to take more aggressive action to help the West African country fight the deadly Ebola virus outbreak, which first broke in March and continues to spread rapidly.
"I am being honest with you when I say that at this rate, we will never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us," wrote Sirleaf in the letter, which was dated September 9 and viewed by the New York Times and Reuters. "Only governments like yours have the resources and assets to deploy at the pace required to arrest the spread," she wrote, adding, "Without more direct help from your government, we will lose this battle against Ebola." Among Sirleaf's requests are 1,500 hospital beds around the country and a 100-bed hospital in the capital of Monrovia, which is ground zero for the disease outbreak.
Half of the more than 2,400 recorded Ebola deaths since March have taken place in Liberia, and the World Health Organization recently warned that infections are quickly multiplying in this country. Meanwhile, Liberia's health care system, which has been devastated by decades of structural adjustment programs imposed by Western financial institutions, is unable to keep pace with the epidemic. Dangerous work conditions and poor and nonexistent pay, furthermore, are hampering the capacity of Liberian aid workers to respond to the public health emergency, prompting medical worker strikes and work actions.
Infectious disease experts and humanitarian aid workers have criticized the United States, as well as the World Health Organization and United Nations, for failing to aggressively mobilize to quell the crisis. The U.S. has so far committed approximately $100 million of medical and protective equipment, according to Reuters. While the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced it is transferring a 25-bed field hospital to Liberia to help fight the disease, there is some question as to whether these resources will be used to treat Liberians.
Humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has erected numerous treatment centers in affected areas but has repeatedly warned that the need is far greater than they or other medical caregivers are able to meet. In a statement delivered to United Nations member countries earlier this month, MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu blasted the international community for failing to take action. "Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it," he said. "Leaders are failing to come to grips with this transnational threat."
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf penned a letter to President Obama this week urging the U.S. government to take more aggressive action to help the West African country fight the deadly Ebola virus outbreak, which first broke in March and continues to spread rapidly.
"I am being honest with you when I say that at this rate, we will never break the transmission chain and the virus will overwhelm us," wrote Sirleaf in the letter, which was dated September 9 and viewed by the New York Times and Reuters. "Only governments like yours have the resources and assets to deploy at the pace required to arrest the spread," she wrote, adding, "Without more direct help from your government, we will lose this battle against Ebola." Among Sirleaf's requests are 1,500 hospital beds around the country and a 100-bed hospital in the capital of Monrovia, which is ground zero for the disease outbreak.
Half of the more than 2,400 recorded Ebola deaths since March have taken place in Liberia, and the World Health Organization recently warned that infections are quickly multiplying in this country. Meanwhile, Liberia's health care system, which has been devastated by decades of structural adjustment programs imposed by Western financial institutions, is unable to keep pace with the epidemic. Dangerous work conditions and poor and nonexistent pay, furthermore, are hampering the capacity of Liberian aid workers to respond to the public health emergency, prompting medical worker strikes and work actions.
Infectious disease experts and humanitarian aid workers have criticized the United States, as well as the World Health Organization and United Nations, for failing to aggressively mobilize to quell the crisis. The U.S. has so far committed approximately $100 million of medical and protective equipment, according to Reuters. While the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced it is transferring a 25-bed field hospital to Liberia to help fight the disease, there is some question as to whether these resources will be used to treat Liberians.
Humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has erected numerous treatment centers in affected areas but has repeatedly warned that the need is far greater than they or other medical caregivers are able to meet. In a statement delivered to United Nations member countries earlier this month, MSF International President Dr. Joanne Liu blasted the international community for failing to take action. "Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it," he said. "Leaders are failing to come to grips with this transnational threat."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.