Different heads of state of West Africa badly hit by the Ebola virus have vowed to end the outbreak within 2 months.
In a closed-door summit held on Sunday, February 15, in Guinea's capital, Conakry, presidents of Guinea (Alpha Conde), Liberia (Ellen Johnson Sirleaf), and Sierra Leone (Ernest Bai Koroma) promised to eradicate the infection by around the middle of April. They also vowed to help their nations get back to normal as soon as possible.
Although the current outbreak isn't the first in history, it's the deadliest, killing almost 10,000 people including health workers and with over 15,000 reported cases. It began over a year ago but took off during the middle of 2014.
The effects of the outbreak were so devastating, made even worse by the lack of proper health care infrastructure of these countries due to long-standing civil wars. Many locals have also initially opposed treatments. Recently, Red Cross officials lamented about the physical violence inflicted upon volunteers, particularly those who are trying to prepare a safe funeral. According to a latest research, even a dead body can still be contagious a week after death.
Over the last few months, with concerted efforts from the international communities, the number of cases has dropped significantly, although the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed there was a slight increase by late January. These three nations, nevertheless, are confident that the worst-case scenario is already impossible to happen.
Meanwhile, the World Bank is helping the nations get on their feet and stimulate economic activity once again by providing them with concessional loans and debt relief amounting to more than $95 million.
The three leaders are also flying to Brussels, Belgium, during the first week of March to attend an Ebola conference and present their intended recovery program to the European Union. Some of the key issues that will be included in the plan are agriculture, education, and health.