http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMpdRM1h-tQ

Kofi Annan is a Ghanian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations (January 1997-December 2006). He was co-recipient with the United Nations of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. In this video, Annan expresses his disappointment with how the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been handled. He says: “I’m disappointed, first of all, with the international community for not moving faster, because we are – we are in this world we are in it together.”

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Kofi Annan On The 2014 Ebola Outbreak appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtQ5JSW2eNk

Smallpox was an infectious disease that caused fluid-filled blisters all over the body and had a mortality rate of 30-35%. Thanks to effective vaccination campaigns, smallpox became the first disease to be declared eradicated by the WHO on December 9, 1979. In this video, D.A. Henderson, an epidemiologist and physician who headed the eradication campaign, speaks about his efforts during that time. “It was a big problem and we knew we had to work in about fifty countries and we had around two and a half million dollars to do that.” The strategy he used has been used since to combat other infectious diseases: “To have some mechanism, a team, to go out, go to the place where the cases are, see if there are other cases around. You vaccinate them and you build kind of a wall around them of people, because smallpox will not exist in animals, it has to go from person to person to person.” Henderson also discusses bio-security, and being prepared in case of a bio-attack such as smallpox.

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The Eradication of Smallpox appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEgKp-0fcrM

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia, speaks to CNN about the situation in her country as it battles the devastating Ebola virus. When asked what Liberia needs to help stop the spread of Ebola, Johnson-Sirleaf responds: “Let me first say that this is not a Liberian problem, or Sierra Leone problem, or Guinea problem. It is an international problem. What we need is to build our capacity in terms of technical assistance for training. Technical assistance for treatment in the form of doctors and nurses. Those who have expertise in this area perhaps having served in Uganda or in the Democratic Republic of Congo that we can mobilize them. The Center for Disease control have people here. We are grateful for that, but it’s not enough because they are stretched thin. They need to have additional support… The basic things are all needed. Liberia has tried, we’ve used our own resources, but obviously we have limitations in our own resources and we hope that we will see the international community see this as a grave international disease and international catastrophe and will respond to it in like kind.”

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Liberian President Discusses Ebola Outbreak appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnkknjMOiHs

In the context of healthcare and addressing urgent medical needs, one cannot overlook the significance of accessible and well-equipped urgent care centers. These vital healthcare facilities, such as urgent care Elmhurst, NY, serve as crucial pillars in bridging the gap between immediate medical attention and comprehensive healthcare systems. They play an integral role in providing prompt, quality care to patients who require urgent medical attention but may not necessarily require the resources of a hospital emergency room. By delivering timely and efficient care, urgent care centers contribute to a more equitable healthcare landscape, addressing the inequalities in healthcare access that persist in many communities.

Paul Farmer is a physician and co-founder of Partners in Health (PIH), an international social justice and health organization. Farmer is best known for his work in providing healthcare to rural and under-resourced areas in the developing world. In this video, Farmer has recently returned from a trip to Sierra Leone and sits down to answer questions about the Ebola outbreak taking place there. When asked what we should understand about this outbreak, Farmer says: “I think the most important thing to understand is that this is a reflection of long-standing and growing inequalities of access to basic systems of healthcare delivery, and that includes the staff, the stuff and again these systems…. If you go down to each of these epidemics, that are of course one epidemic, and you ask the question ‘Well do they have the staff, stuff and systems that they need to respond?’ and the answer is no.” He also speaks of the importance of supportive care, pointing to Emory University as an example of how supportive care is a vital tool to successfully combating the disease.

In conclusion, the insightful words of Paul Farmer shed light on the underlying issue of healthcare inequalities and the urgent need for comprehensive systems to address them. His experiences in combating the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone highlight the importance of having well-trained healthcare staff, adequate resources, and robust healthcare delivery systems in place. Just as urgent care centers like urgent care Elmhurst, NY, play a critical role in bridging gaps in healthcare access, Farmer’s emphasis on supportive care underscores the significance of holistic approaches in combating diseases effectively. By recognizing and addressing these long-standing disparities, we can strive toward a more equitable and resilient healthcare landscape for all.

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Paul Farmer Discusses the 2014 Ebola Outbreak appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc78mD0EGoo

Stephanie Fae Beauclair, better known as Baby Fae, became the first infant to receive a heart transplant from a baboon on October 26, 1984. Baby Fae was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition which at the time was fatal without a heart transplant. In this video, hospital staff recall both celebrating the success of the procedure and the intense media scrutiny that surrounded it. Baby Fae’s transplant became a hotly contested ethical debate. Animal rights activists were staunchly against the procedure. Of the hospital’s motivation, Director of Patient Care Marie Whisman Hodgkins says: “The staff weren’t coming from that because they had worked with babies with severe heart defects. They had worked with babies that had gone through attempted surgical repairs for the left hypoplastic. They all had worked with Dr. Bailey. Again, all the intentions and the rationale behind this surgery were not even a question for them. We were going to help a baby.” While the procedure itself was successful, Baby Fae ultimately rejected the heart and passed away 3 weeks after the procedure on November 15, 1984.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRFrxpdbt44

In 2014, Nancy Writebol was working in Liberia with NGO Samaritan’s Purse. She became the second U.S. citizen to contract the disease while working in Liberia. In this video, Writebol recalls learning of her diagnosis from her husband, David: “He came into the room and he said ‘Nancy I need to tell you some things’… He said ‘Kent has Ebola.’ And I was just sick when David told me. And then after I kinda regrouped from that, he said ‘And Nancy, you do too.’” Writebol was given an experimental serum, ZMapp, to help combat the disease. She was the first human to ever receive the serum. Of its impact, Writebol says: “I don’t know that you can say only the serum is what works. The supportive care is really critical.”

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Nancy Writebol On Surviving Ebola appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUmIDMnpdyI

Dr. Kent Brantly, working with the NGO Sumaritan’s Purse in Liberia, contracted Ebola in July of 2014 while treating patients. Dr. Brantly discusses treating his first Ebola patient, who had arrived at the hospital with her uncle. Both the young woman, Teresa, and her uncle had Ebola, however Teresa’s uncle passed away while the doctor’s were setting up to treat them. Teresa passed away a few days later. On the early days of treating the disease, Brantly says: “For the first month and a half, we had one survivor.” Dr. Brantly’s wife also speaks about what it was like living with someone who was treating the disease: “He would come to the door and I would just send him straight to the shower, change of clothes. You can’t touch anybody until you’ve detoxed.”

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Dr. Kent Brantly On Contracting Ebola appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSthap4JULM

Doctor Peter Piot was part of a team that first discovered the Ebola virus in 1976. In this video, Dr. Piot expresses his surprise at the 2014 Ebola outbreak, citing three reasons: that the outbreak is taking place in West Africa, that it involves more than one country and that the outbreaks are being seen in capital cities. When asked how an Ebola epidemic can be contained, Piot says that: “It is really something that in theory is easy to contain, but in practice there are beliefs when you think this is witchcraft… when people are coming to get the diseased relatives and the dead bodies and take them away..”

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Ebola Doctor’s Concern And Surprise Over 2014 Outbreak appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01iSy0Zwk3Q

In 1976, Doctor Peter Piot was the first to discover Ebola while working at the Institute of Tropical Medicine. Along with his team, Dr. Piot travelled to Zaire in 1976 to help stop the outbreak that was taking place. In this video, Dr. Piot shares statistics that highlight the gravity of the 2014 Ebola outbreak: “In thirty-eight years since the first outbreak, Ebola has killed at most 1500 people. That’s like thirty to forty a year.” Speaking of the widespread concern about the spread of Ebola, Piot proclaims: “I would be happy to sit next to someone with Ebola in the tube as long as that person is not ill.”

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Doctor Who Discovered Ebola Discusses 2014 Outbreak appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HPD9NSg5WE

Claudius Barnawolo, a physician’s assistant in Liberia, was cured of the Ebola virus disease during the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak. Barnawolo says that people had already pronounced him dead at one point but he survived: “What happened here was a complete miracle.” He is grateful to God and to the medical professionals who helped to cure him. Barnawolo also mentions that at the time he was hospitalized on June 28, 2014, he did not know about using protective gear during his work because the disease at the time was undetected in Liberia.

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Ebola Virus: ‘Miracle’ Cured Case in Liberia appeared first on Witnify.