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Liberian officials have wrongly ascribed about 1,000 deaths in the West African country to the deadly Ebola virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. A surge in Ebola death toll, which was published by the UN organization at the weekend, arose from wrong attribution to the epidemic by Liberian authorities, the WHO assistant director general, Bruce Aylward, said on Monday. "Liberia's figures came in but they've since said these were actually non-Ebola deaths that were reported as part of our Ebola deaths and we will be taking them off. So the whole world went up and the whole world will come down again," Aylward said.

The weekend’s statistics put the death toll in Liberia at 4,181, up from 3,016 two days earlier. However, the WHO's revised figures indicated the number of deaths recorded in the Ebola outbreak in the African country stands at 3,145. The new data also classified Sierra Leone and Guinea with 1,530 and 1,312 deaths respectively as the worst-hit countries after Liberia. The three states have suffered a total of 5,987 Ebola-related deaths, the figures showed. Over 16,000 people have reportedly been infected with the deadly Ebola virus.

Details: Ngwa Bertrand; 02.Dec.2014; Hits: 2423

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The campaigners say the number of people newly infected with HIV over the last year was lower than the number of HIV-positive people who joined those getting access to the medicines they need to take for life to keep AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) at bay.

Only one per cent of babies born to mothers who have HIV are HIV positive because of treatments now available.

But in a report to mark World Aids Day on 1 December, the ONE campaign, an advocacy group working to end poverty and preventable disease in Africa, warned that reaching this milestone does not mean the end of Aids was around the corner.

"We've passed the tipping point in the Aids fight at the global level, but not all countries are there yet, and the gains made can easily stall or unravel," said Erin Hohlfelder, ONE's director of global health policy.

HIV is a virus which attacks the body’s immune system. People are only considered to have developed Aids when their immune system becomes so weak they are unable to combat diseases which it would normally be able to fight off.

The virus is most commonly passed on through unprotected sexual intercourse or by sharing drug injecting equipment. There is currently no vaccine or cure for HIV but effective treatments now available mean a HIV-positive person receiving regular treatment can have a near normal life expectancy.

According to ONE, HIV is increasingly concentrated among hard-to-reach populations such as injecting drug users, gay men and sex workers - who are often stigmatised and have trouble accessing treatment and prevention services.

The United Nations Aids agency, UNAIDS, says that, by June 2014, some 13.6 million people globally had access to AIDS drugs, a dramatic improvement on the 5 million who were getting treatment in 2010.

Details: Ngwa Bertrand; 01.Dec.2014; Hits: 2142

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The World Health Organization (WHO) says over 16,000 people have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus and around 7,000 have lost their lives as a result of it. The UN health agency announced the new death toll on Friday. The figure demonstrates an increase of over 1,000 deaths since a report from two days before. Most of the new deaths were recorded in Liberia, which along with Sierra Leone and Guinea, is the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Based on the new data, there have been 16,169 cases in just the three countries — an increase of 268 cases since the report two days earlier.

Around three dozen cases have also been reported elsewhere while, most recently, Mali began recording infections after people with the Ebola disease crossed over from neighboring Guinea. Since the process of collecting data about the Ebola outbreak is difficult and slow, death and infection tolls often see large rises when the backlog of information is cleared. The WHO, meanwhile, has warned that its figures may significantly underreport the actual number of the people diagnosed and killed by the virus.

Details: Ngwa Bertrand; 29.Nov.2014; Hits: 2038

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A new 15-minute test for Ebola is currently being trialled in Guinea, the epicentre of the deadly outbreak that has killed thousands in recent weeks. If successful, researchers believe the breakthrough – which is six times faster than tests used at present – could help medical staff identify and isolate Ebola patients, allowing them to receive treatment sooner. "It not only gives patients a better chance of survival, but it prevents transmission of the virus to other people," said Wellcome Trust, which is funding development and trials of the test, spokesperson Val Snewin. The test, which uses a “mobile suitcase laboratory” – roughly the size of a laptop with a solar panel, a power pack and results radar, will be tested in Guinea’s capital Conkary.

Its design means that it can be easily transported to remote areas affected by Ebola, where health workers and aid organisations have warned there is little information and even less healthcare. The test uses reagent substances which detect the genetic material of the virus, but crucially are available as dried pellets that do not need cold storage. The initiative is one of six funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Department for International Relations (DFID) in a £6.5 million Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises programme.

The latest estimates from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that 5,674 people have died after contracting Ebola, with an estimated 15,000 cases in total. Of these figures, 1,260 of the dead were from Guinea. The country’s healthcare has struggled to cope under the outbreak, with only 160 designated Ebola beds in two Ebola Treatment Centres, according to International SOS. The news comes amid French President Francois Holland’s visit to the country. He was warmly greeted by crowds and Guinean President Alpha Conde, who declared if Mr Hollande could visit the country, then anybody could.

Report from Reuters

Details: Ngwa Bertrand; 29.Nov.2014; Hits: 2514

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The European Commission has made an urgent request for 5,000 doctors from EU states to travel to West Africa and help combat the deadly Ebola epidemic. Senior EU officials have contacted national governments for their assistance in mobilizing a response to the serious epidemic, an unidentified source confirmed on Wednesday. “Thousands of other medical caregivers were also being called for,” the source said.

Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, and Christos Stylianides, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, have already reached out to over 14 ministers, urging them to send more medical staff to Ebola-hit countries. European officials have asked national authorities for both medical staff and volunteers operating through charities for more help in fighting Ebola. In August, medical charity group, Doctors Without Borders, warned that the Ebola outbreak is moving faster than aid organizations can handle.

Details: Ngwa Bertrand; 27.Nov.2014; Hits: 2611

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The government of Sierra Leone has ordered all businesses in the capital city to close in a bid to curb the deadly Ebola epidemic. Shops, markets and traders are required to observe a three-day shutdown in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, starting on Friday, Mayor Sam Franklyn Gibson said Thursday, adding that only pharmacies are allowed to remain open. The mayor also urged residents to don long-sleeved clothing in order to prevent skin-on-skin contact and keep the worst outbreak in history under control.

“This will help reduce incidences of touching and rubbing against sweating bodies of other people,” the mayor stated. The shutdown is the second such incident in the country after the government declared a nationwide three-day lockdown two months ago. Sierra Leone remains one of the hardest hit countries by the Ebola outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Details: Ngwa Bertrand; 27.Nov.2014; Hits: 2144

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