Washington Post: West Africa faces challenges to contain the Ebola outbreak
Meredith Dyson, health program manager with Catholic Relief Services in Sierra Leone

“The June 30 [Washington Post] editorial ‘Ebola, unchecked’ highlighted the severity of an Ebola outbreak in West Africa but inadequately portrayed the challenges faced by the governments of the affected countries. … It took months to spot the rise in fever-related deaths and to identify Ebola — never before seen in the area — as the cause. … As an added challenge, Liberia and Sierra Leone are still recovering from civil wars that decimated health infrastructure, brought government services nearly to a halt, prompted the exodus of educated professionals, and interrupted the education of an entire generation. … A mostly rural population, high adult illiteracy, and limited access to electricity — much less TV — make promoting public awareness particularly challenging” (7/4).