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A health worker
is seen assisting Ebola patients at the Kenama treatment centre in Sierra
Leone, in November 2014 ©Francisco Leong (AFP)
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Health
authorities are repeating the mistakes of the past in combatting Ebola, more
than a year after its onset in Guinea and Sierra Leone, the international
president of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned.
Joanne Liu's remarks on Saturday come a day after
Sierra Leone imposed a three-week daytime curfew in the last Ebola-hit areas in
a bid to curb a resurgence of the deadly virus, which has killed about 3,900
people in the country.
AFP report continues:
Neighbouring Liberia was declared Ebola-free in May,
but hopes that Sierra Leone and Guinea would quickly follow suit have been
dashed in recent weeks.
"We are still making the same mistakes as we did
in the past," said Liu.
"We know now that engaging the community in the
response is essential," she added. "But we also know that leadership
at the government level... is absolutely essential."
Liu said that when "certain political interests
are prioritized over the response to the epidemic, this does not work," an
apparent reference to Guinea, where the issue of combatting Ebola has been a
subject of debate between President Alpha Conde and the opposition.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday
the retreat of the virus "has stalled", after a second consecutive
weekly increase in incidences of Ebola in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
One
of the deadliest viruses known to man, Ebola is spread only through direct
contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms, such as
fever or vomiting.
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