Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950513162309.13825A-100000@ucs.orst.edu> Date: Sat, 13 May 1995 17:07:26 -0700 From: Nicholas Hobgood <mailto:hobgoodn@UCS.ORST.EDU> Subject: Ebola and the U.S. To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ZAIRIAN PEOPLE'S PLIGHT
Kikwit hospital, where the first signs of the recent Ebola virus
attack emerged, was where we Peace Corps volunteers would take our
specimens to have them analyzed for malaria or intestinal parasites. We
had to bring our own microscope slides because the hospital had next to
none in their lab. The lack of supplies was commonplace yet the doctors
and nurses continued to provide services.
Zairian president Mobutu Sese Seko has had a long history of
support from the U.S. but those in the interior of the country have seen
very few benefits of such aid. On the contrary, deterioration of both
the Zairian economy and the overall infrastructure, medical services
included, was occuring at an alarming rate, as personally observed from
1987 to 1991. In 1991 the U.S. cut off aid completely when the military
rose in rebellion after not recieving a pay check for 6 months. Also,
president Mobutu, who was supported by the U.S. for approximately two
decades, was then, all of a sudden, accused of human rights abuses and
therefore not worthy of continued foreign assistance.
If the WHO responded to an Ebola virus outbreak in Zaire in
1976-1977, why should this be happening again? Zairian health workers
must know the threats of such diseases. We are told, by medical experts,
that the most basic sanitary procedures of wearing gloves and masks could
have prevented the spread of the disease. Well, the little publicized fact
is, health workers in Zaire do not have the financial means to buy what
we see as the most basic of supplies necessary to prevent the spread of
viruses like Ebola.
The havoc that this hemmoragic fever is causing is only one
indicator of Zaire's desperate state. The U.S. should feel responsible
for the damage that "our man" Mobutu has caused in this poor country and
simply cutting him off and ignoring him has been an irresponsible way of
dealing with the problem. In addition, our Congress risks creating what
the new Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development,
Brian Atwood has called "Fortress America", an isolationist approach to
foreign relations characterized by drastic cuts to the U.S. foreign
assistance budget. The outbreak in Zaire is only one of many examples which
supports increased responsible and well-directed assistance to countries
that do not have even the most basic of medical services. It is a small
price to pay by wealthy nations which continue to benfit from the
exploitation of natural resources from the less wealthy.
----- A far from objective look at the Ebola situation in Bandundu, Zaire
Nick Hobgood