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Ebola burial teams seek bribes in
Sierra Leone - health official. Picture: AFP
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Ebola burial teams in Sierra Leone are extorting money from
families of the bereaved to give the dead safe burials, a senior health
official said, leading to an increase in illegal funerals.
The introduction of anti-Ebola
measures requiring bodies to be buried according to safety protocols was
considered a key sign of progress in the fight against the disease last year.
Reuters report continues:
Formerly, families were secretly
burying bodies in unmarked graves, using traditional practices which can spread
the virus via the highly infectious fluids of the deceased.
Palo Conteh, head of the National
Ebola Response Centre, told reporters on Wednesday that some teams are now
soliciting bribes of around 1 million Sierra Leonean Leone (US$247) from the
families of the bereaved for the service.
Conteh said allegations that burial
teams from Connaught Hospital had demanded bribes were being investigated. He
did not give details of where the new illegal burials were happening.
The worst-known Ebola epidemic in
history has killed more than 11,200 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and
Sierra Leone.
Case numbers have fallen sharply
since their peak last year, the region reported 30 new cases in the week to
July 12, mostly in or around the capital cities of the three countries.
In a major setback, formerly
Ebola-free Liberia declared a new case on June 30 and five more cases since.
Conteh added that Sierra Leone would
re-open the formerly shut 34 Military Hospital to Ebola patients in order to
deal with the rise in new cases in the capital.
In addition, Sierra Leone's Parliament has
adopted recommendations by its Public Accounts Committee to suspend three
government officials for violating procurement rules in the management of Ebola
funds. The country's auditor said in February that the government had failed to
fully account for nearly a third of the US$20 million earmarked for fighting
the disease.
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