Another Sierra Leone doctor has died from Ebola, the 10th to succumb to the disease, according to a health official.
Dr Aiah Solomon Konoyeima’s death on Saturday, as confirmed by Brima Kargbo, the country’s chief medical officer, came a day after two other doctors died from Ebola.
Konoyeima worked at a children’s hospital in the capital Freetown and tested positive for Ebola about two weeks ago.
He was treated at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Centre, which is staffed exclusively by Sierra Leone medical personnel, as compared to many other treatment units, which are run by international organisations or employ some foreign staff.
Because Ebola is transmitted through the bodily fluids of the sick and dead, it is sometimes called the “caretakers’ disease”.
Hundreds of health workers have been infected in this outbreak.
In another Ebola-related development, the African Union has launched a new text-message campaign an effort to raise funds.
People are being encouraged to text “Stop Ebola”. Each text costs around $1, and the money is meant to go towards combating the virus.
People across the continent can now contribute to the Ebola fund by simply sending a text message to donate.
“It’s a service where customers can simply send an SMS message to 7979 with the words ‘Stop Ebola’ and then they would make a donation of 100 naira and all of that money, with no deductions, will go to the African Union fund to eradicate Ebola,” said Matthew Wilshere, CEO of Etisalat, a multinational telecommunication carrier.
The African Union Commission has so far raised more than $20m in donations through its hashtag “#AfricaAgainstEbola” campaign, but its chairperson says more is still needed.
In the current outbreak, Ebola has infected more than 17,500 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Of those, about 6,200 have died. It is currently spreading fastest in Sierra Leone.
(Al Jazeera) Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com