The Outbreak Engulfing Three Countries - 1155 Words

D. Response to Ebola The outbreak engulfing three countries in West Africa began in Guinea when a toddler contracted the virus from eating an infected bat in an impoverished village where bushmeat is a dietary staple – again highlighting the disparity in living standards and socio-economic status between core and peripheral nations. Infectious disease like Ebola have mostly been exorcised from developed countries because a basic level of health is ensured through the government, private sector, or social agency. Unfortunately, the poor in Guinea avoid seeking aid because they cannot afford to, as discussed above. Also, fear of and lack of trust in authority prevents individuals from seeking medical attention – this distrust has stemmed†¦show more content†¦800 vials were also donated to WHO along with mobile laboratories (Government of Canada 2014). Canada has also pledged to help her compatriots in Guinea by working with international partners like the WHO, CDC and by working with domestic agencies like the Canadian Red Cross and PHAC. The UN has created a Mission for Emergency Ebola Response (UNMEER), and Canada has been an active participant, providing healthcare workers. Financially, Canada has contributed over $20 million to WHO, $10 million to UNICEF, and over $25 million to other international social agencies to help combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa – through improved medical response, logistics of humanitarian aid, health education, immediate food needs, and protection measures (Government of Canada 2014). Halfway around the world, in Guinea we look back to see that the origins of the epidemic may have been flushed out of the forest by multinational timber and mining operations clear-cutting the Guinea Forest Region, where environmental degradation have forced animals from their homes (Wilson Center 2014). Patient zero was from an area affected by the lumber industry, and the disease-carrying bat was likely flushed out by loggers. A contradiction lies in peripheral countries pursuing capitalism and the quintessential â€Å"American Dream†: there is a paradox where