Why are western health workers with Ebola flown out, but locals left to die?

[dixiegrrrrl]

Skin color, perhaps?

Dr Olivet Buck was a doctor in Sierra Leone who treated Ebola virus sufferers.
She caught the virus, WHO refused to evacuate her to a western hospital that agreed to take her.
Other ( Western) medical personnel had been evacuated with no problem.
She died.

Why are western health workers with Ebola flown out, but locals left to die?
The death of Dr Olivet Buck after the WHO refused to fly her out of Sierra Leone is not just wrong: it’s making the Ebola epidemic worse.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/15/ebola-doctor-death-olivet-buck-sierra-leone

Story here:

Dr Olivet Buck died late Saturday, hours after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it could not help medically evacuate her to Germany, Sierra Leone's chief medical officer Dr Brima Kargbo confirmed to the Associated Press.
Sierra Leone had requested funds from WHO to transport Buck to Europe, saying the country could not afford to lose another doctor. WHO said it could not meet the request but instead would work to give Buck "the best care possible" in Sierra Leone, including possible access to experimental drugs.

So far, only foreign health and aid workers have been evacuated abroad from Sierra Leone and Liberia for treatment.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/14/ebola-outbreak-fourth-doctor-dies-sierra-leone

[misterhighwasted]

1. Profit perhaps, who is developing the anti serum?

Would hope there is compassion in there also.
I am at a loss as to why only foreigners. Why would they deny a Dr regardless of nationality? Doesnt make sense.

[yeoman6987]

4. We brought our Americans back home

That is what we do. End of discussion. Has nothing to do with skin color. It has to do with citizenship.

[Lancero]

14. Yeah, right. And America is free from racism too

A US citizen was refused permission to return from Africa, despite needing medical help. He WASN'T infected with Ebola, but had fell into a coma. His family was wanting to bring him back to the US to have access to better equipped facilities and a neurologist.

Note that he wasn't infected with Ebola. He was tested many times, cleared everytime. He needed to be brought back home to recieve medical attention that he couldn't obtain in Africa.

Instead, we left him to die. And he did die.

We've pulled out ebola infected people, our citizens, from ebola infected countries for better medical attention But why did we refuse to allow this one person, a uninfected person, to return for medical help? If it's really about bringing our people back home, why was he left to die?

He was black. To date, the ebola infected people we've pulled out, the citizens you say we are saving not because of skin color but because bringing our people back is what we do? They were white.

http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2014/08/healthy-u-s-man-in-africa-dies-after-being-denied-re-entry-due-to-ebola-outbreak/

[yeoman6987]

16. Ok....if you believe that. Good on ya.

[Lancero]

21. The facts speak to it.

If it was really about bringing our citizens back home, why were whites infected with Ebola brought back but a black man who WASN'T infected left to die?

It seems that if it really was about bringing our people back, he would have been allowed entry. Instead he was made to stay and die in a foreign country, despite the fact that he posed no risk of infecting other persons.

You claim racism doesn't play apart of these decisions, yet this case disproves you. So common, defend your claims that the decisions on who to save or not to save are not affected by the persons skin color.

[still_one]

26. You are right. The vaccine is also limited.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

39. I don't think he was forbidden to re-enter the U.S.

It was the country of Liberia that forbade him to leave, since he was in a hospital that was under quarantine. And didn't he die several days before any other Americans had been evacuated? Furthermore, he was in a coma for several days prior to his death. Sadly, it's just not that easy making it out of a third world country under such circumstances.

[valerief]

2. This ebola problem that's been left to spread is beginning to seem

less like neglect and more like nurturing.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Here's a link to the CDC's patent for Ebola.

http://www.google.com/patents/CA2741523A1?cl=en

And it appears that the vaccine for this current form of Ebola is going to be very profitable.
A vaccine they are now testing.

I was surprised at how fast that vaccine was developed.

[pinto]

9. Why are you surprised at the push for a viable vaccine? It's sorely needed.

Coupled with local infection control efforts a vaccine is key to stemming Ebola infections and deaths.

[magical thyme]

12. that appears to be a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain, not Zaire or Sudan strains

"Compositions and methods including and related to the Ebola Bundibugyo virus (EboBun) are provided.
Compositions are provided that are operable as immunogens to elicit and immune response or protection from EboBun challenge in a subject such as a primate. Inventive methods are directed to detection and treatment of EboBun infection.

...These specimens were negative when initially tested with highly sensitive real-time RT-PCR assays specific for all known Zaire and Sudan ebolaviruses and Marburg viruses. This new species is referred to herein as "the Bundibugyo species", abbreviated "EboBun"."



There are vaccines in testing now for the Zaire strain. However, the longer this outbreak continues and grows, the more opportunities it has to mutate. There is a very real chance that any vaccines in development now will be useless against a highly mutated strain.

[still_one]

28. sorry, it won't be that profitable. Ebola is not that rampant. If you would have said something

Hepatitis C, or HIV, or Malaria, you might have a point, but not in this case

[cali]

10. that's fairly ridiculous. isn't neglect bad enough?

[valerief]

18. Of course. The PTB are negligent over climate change, too, despite the consequences.

I find that ridiculous.

[still_one]

34. You do realize it is difficult to deal with certain customs. Health workers were being threatened

about moving the deceased, because family members were preventing it. Special procedures have to be followed when dealing with the deceased. It is classified as a biosafety level 4 agent, as well as a Category A bioterrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[Aerows]

42. The 8 health care workers

that were murdered doesn't help matters much, either.

[still_one]

44. All the health workers and volunteers are truly heroes in my book

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Well according to at least one of the

Doctors evacuated, treated with scarce experimental drugs, and recovered, "god" had a role.

[magical thyme]

6. I think those who have been evacuated had funding from organizations other than WHO.

WHO came out of the 2008 financial crisis $1.2B in the red. It had to slash 20% of its staff. Then the world decided that the infectious disease division was unecessary and its budget was gutted. As a result, it is fallen down totally on this crisis, which has been left until recently to the charity aid organizations to handle.

The American doctors that have been evacuated were paid for in full by their charity organizations.

I'm not saying this is right. I'm saying this is what's happening.

[pinto]

7. Available resources may be a key factor. WHO had nothing to do with US patient transport.

It seems their medical transport was a joint effort among US organizations, including the CDC, the State Department, their "home" hospitals, the organizations they worked with and perhaps US military resources.

Not sure how many airplanes there are equipped with medically sterile isolation units, negative air pressure, etc. available worldwide.



Personally, I feel there's a pressing need for professional staff and resources, including comprehensive infection control measures and treatment options, to be available on-site.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

8. Because the WHO

isn't being asked to fly the Westerners out.

[treestar]

11. Because they are from those countries

What country is Dr. Olive Buck from? If she is from Sierra Leone, she's not a citizen of Germany and they may not want non citizens with Ebola in.

We had a thread here where people thought it outrageous we let our own American doctors back into their own country.

The answer to the virus would not be in evacuating the entire population of Sierra Leone elsewhere.

They do have a point about saving a doctor, though, as the health care workers seem vulnerable.

[librechik]

13. I don't get it. You can't even bring in a mango from Mexico, but ebola virus is just fine.

it's stupid nd dangerous in my opinion. And the notion that it has roots in racism is repugnant but likely true.

[pinto]

17. It's neither stupid nor dangerous given the expertise involved in safe medical transport.

You may have seen the processes involved in the first transport to the US. Everyone was in "moon suits" as a precautionary measure.

And, fwiw, there's a lot of misunderstanding about the difference between infectious and contagious. Ebola infection is very deadly and related to close contact with infected individuals. That's the cutting edge. Ebola contagion is limited by the means of transmission, again close contact with an infected individual. i.e Ebola is highly infectious but is limitedly contagious.

Two different things.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/09/16/347727459/which-contagious-diseases-are-the-deadliest

[librechik]

20. ok--but those people were doing precautions when they got sick.

Accidents happen.

[pinto]

25. Sadly, yeah.

[840high]

37. Read on BBC that workers get

tired and overwhelmed and yes accidents do happen,

[NuclearDem]

15. Three reasons:

1) WHO is short on funds.

2) Western doctors being evacuated are not being evacuated through WHO, but by their respective governments or charities.

3) Citizenship.

[malaise]

19. Good old racism

Nothing more nothing less

[whistler162]

23. True... using white folks as guinea pigs

could be called racism.

[pinto]

27. Hi malaise. I think that's a broad brush stretch of an assessment.

[still_one]

29. You are wrong in this case. The countries they are from, are bringing their own citizens in.

[Warpy]

32. Not really, the first and foremost reason is that WHO is broke

If a doctor isn't a foreigner from a first world country, WHO isn't able to provide a medical flight out of the country. Doctors from first world countries are flown out for treatment by their first world countries on their dime, or the charity's dime.

WHO is broke because of the PTB's addiction to AUSTERITY.

Should a black doctor from the US be affected, s/he will be flown back to the US. However, the pictures won't be taken lest the racists get their panties in a twist.

The first time a plutocrat's spawn gets infected during a joy ride to Africa, we might see WHO funding increased. Just don't bet the rent on it.

[840high]

38. I don't agree.

[riderinthestorm]

22. She died "within hours" of the request. I'd guess she was already terminal

Besides WHO isn't the one flying western aid doctors "home" for treatment, the associated charities are doing it.

[SoCalDem]

24. Primarily because they have somewhere else to go

As "Westerners", they are from somewhere else, and have access to western medical care in all its glory...and proximity to family members who can lobby for their return, and who will assist in their care if necessary.

just my guess..

[Quantess]

30. Anybody who is willing to go to an ebola-infested place

to work to prevent the spread of, or try to eradicate ebola, must have a death wish.

Not only will your efforts be unappreciated, you will be viewed with suspicion for just being there, and you run a good chance of getting violently killed by conspiracy theorists who see you as the source of ebola.

Really smart!

[still_one]

31. Damn those westerners who volunteered to try and help in Sierra Leone... (scarcasm)

[still_one]

33. Actually, the focus needs to be on containing it to prevent spread, and setting up the conditions in

those affected countries so it does not get any worse, plus making as much of the vaccine available as they can to everyone

Focusing on finger pointing with racist leaning overtones does nothing to help the situation or the people involved

[Marrah_G]

35. They are being taken back to their own countries

Not sure any country would bring a non-citizen with ebola into their countries. Personally I think it is stupid since every Doctor is vital, I just can't make the leap to it being because of skin color.

[dixiegrrrrl]

45. Germany agreed to treat her:

Sierra Leone’s president backed her, saying that a hospital in Hamburg was “in readiness to receive her”

[Marrah_G]

48. I don't know, maybe they could not afford the flight

The WHO is not the one who pays for the flights. Usually it is the charities or country the person works for.

[geek tragedy]

36. Because they're going home where they belong.

Silly question

[LostInAnomie]

40. The quest for new outrage on DU get dumber every fucking day.

There are at least a dozen reasons that could be pointed out as to why racism has nothing to do with this. But, the easiest way to point out that this fabricated outrage is idiotic is to point to the simple fact that the health workers are there in the first place.

If there was racism at work, why bother sending anyone?

[Aerows]

41. It is in infant stages

and there isn't a large scale production of it yet, nor is there conclusive proof that it works.

With an n of 3 cured by it, it's a bit early to know if it will work on the vast majority of patients even if they had unlimited supplies of the drug. It also overlooks the fact that in the west we have significantly more sophisticated hospitals and can dedicate a multitude of doctors to one patient.

The problem is lack of availability, poor conditions on the ground where the outbreak is occurring and the fact that the outbreak is affecting more people each day.

Not to mention that some of the same medical personnel that have volunteered to help and work in the areas hit by the crisis were murdered and their bodies thrown into a latrine.

[oberliner]

43. Foreign people are flown back to their home countries

Whereas for non-foreign people, this is their home country.

[B2G]

46. What do you want to do? Airlift 6000+ people here?

[Nye Bevan]

47. If a member of your family fell seriously ill while vistiting Tanzania,

and was medically evacuated back to the US by their insurance company, would you be kicking up a stink that sick Tanzanians were not also being brought to the US for treatment? And would this be an example of racism?