While the Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic appears to be calming down in West Africa, the virus is leaving behind a problematic health situation. Exposed to the virus, there are not enough health professionals. According to a report published by the World Bank in the journal The Lancet, the loss of health workers due to Ebola could explode maternal mortality rates in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
“The loss of health workers linked to Ebola could bring maternal mortality to rates that have not been seen in these countries for 15 to 20 years,” warned Markus Goldstein, co-author of the report.
The mortality of women during pregnancy and childbirth could increase by 111% in Liberia, 74% in Sierra Leone and 38% in Guinea, even though the latter two countries seem to be free of Ebola.
On the front line in the face of the virus, caregivers have suffered much greater losses than the populations themselves. In Liberia, the virus has killed 0.1% of the population compared to 8% of the country’s doctors and nurses. Already precarious, health systems are now very weak. According to the World Bank report, 4,022 women are at risk of dying each year in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone exclusively because of the lack of health professionals linked to Ebola.
240 nurses and doctors should immediately be prepared in these three countries to deal with the precarious health situation. The World Bank therefore calls on these countries to recruit heavily in the years to come.
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