Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Africa
AfricaNewsWorld

Officials in Liberia Say Ebola Has Put Nation on Verge of Collapse

Posted byBy Nick Chiles | Published on: CommentsComments (1)

Health officials in Liberia are painting a picture of a nation so devastated by the Ebola virus that they fear it might be on the verge of collapse.

While things have been bad in Liberia, the worst-hit of the West African nations, for months, the fallout from the spread of the disease now seems to be affecting every part of the nation of 4 million.

With a death toll that has passed 1,200 (accounting for more than half of the 2,400 deaths in West Africa) and a caseload of 2,046 (which is nearly half of West Africa’s total of 4,784), Liberia is where the deadly disease is doing the most damage. The World Health Organization said Monday that the cases in Liberia are “increasing exponentially” and WHO director Margaret Chan said the caseload of 4,780 is likely an underestimate.

Saying the number of cases is rising faster than authorities’ ability to manage them, Chan asked for the world community to send additional health care workers, medical supplies and aid to the worst-affected countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The most alarming language thus far has come from Liberia’s defense minister, Brownie Samukai, who told the U.N. Security Council, “Liberia is facing a serious threat to its national existence. The deadly Ebola virus has caused a disruption of the normal functioning of our state.”

Ebola “is now spreading like wildfire, devouring everything in its path. The already weak health infrastructure of the country has been overwhelmed.”

That catastrophic view was echoed by U.N. special envoy to Liberia, Karin Landgren, who told the Security Council, “Liberians are facing their gravest threat since war,” referring to two civil wars between 1989 and 2003 that left more than 250,000 dead. 

Liberia was still recovering from those horrific conflicts when Ebola hit.

“The Ebola crisis has become complex, with political, security, economic and social implications that will continue to affect the country well beyond the current medical emergency,” Landgren said.

“The risk that Liberia as a nation state ends is close to zero,” Blattman said in an e-mail, adding that it’s not likely to be absorbed by a neighbor or broken up into parts.
There is “a risk that the current regime falls, to be sure,” he said to the Post. “The defense minister is a politician and so might mix up the welfare of the country with [his] political party.” 
But the professor’s assurances are lost on those in the midst of the devastation.

After the WHO projected that the total number of infections in West Africa could reach 20,000 — and at least one long-term model put the number north of 100,000 — local residents are terrified.

“I am afraid,” 45-year-old Kluboh Johnson told the AFP. “I don’t know what to do now actually. Where are we going? Are we all going to die? If WHO can say this kind of thing it means we are finished.”

“We are overwhelmed,” Sophie Jane, a spokeswoman for Doctors Without Borders, told AFP on Wednesday at an Ebola unit in Monrovia. “The patients keep coming in (huge) numbers.”

 

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top