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RFA Argus is a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary operated by the Ministry of Defence under the Blue Ensign. Italian-built, Argus was formerly the container ship MVContender Bezant. The ship was requisitioned in 1982 for service in the Falklands War and purchased outright in 1984 for a four-year conversion to an Aviation Training Ship, replacing RFA Engadine. In 1991, during the Gulf War, she was fitted with an extensive and fully functional hospital to assume the additional role of Primary Casualty Receiving Ship. In 2009, the PCRS role became the ship's primary function. Argus is due to remain in service beyond 2030. In July 2022 it was reported that the future Littoral Strike Role would be assumed by Argus after a refit to convert her to this role.
Newsbeat is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. Newsbeat is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for young people.
Ernest Bai Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.
Mass media in Sierra Leone began when the first modern printing press in Africa arrived at the start of the 19th century. In the 1860s the country became a journalist hub for Africa with professional travelling to the country from across the continent. At the end of the 19th century the industry went into decline and when radio was introduced in the 1930s this became the primary communication media. Print media is not widely read in Sierra Leone, especially outside Freetown, partially due to the low levels of literacy in the country. In 2008 there were 15 daily newspapers in addition to those published weekly. Among newspaper readership young people are likely to read newspapers weekly and older people daily. The majority of newspapers are privately run and are often critical of the government.
In terms of available healthcare and health status Sierra Leone is rated very poorly. Globally, infant and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest. The major causes of illness within the country are preventable with modern technology and medical advances. Most deaths within the country are attributed to nutritional deficiencies, lack of access to clean water, pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, anemia, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in Western Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The first cases were recorded in Guinea in December 2013; later, the disease spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, with minor outbreaks occurring in Nigeria and Mali. Secondary infections of medical workers occurred in the United States and Spain. In addition, isolated cases were recorded in Senegal, the United Kingdom and Italy. The number of cases peaked in October 2014 and then began to decline gradually, following the commitment of substantial international resources.
An Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone occurred in 2014, along with the neighbouring countries of Guinea and Liberia. On 18 March 2014, Guinean health officials announced the outbreak of a mysterious hemorrhagic fever "which strikes like lightning". It was identified as Ebola virus disease and spread to Sierra Leone by May 2014. The disease was thought to have originated when a child from a bat-hunting family contracted the disease in Guinea in December 2013.
An epidemic of Ebola virus disease in Guinea from 2013 to 2016 represents the first ever outbreak of Ebola in a West African country. Previous outbreaks have been confined to several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
An epidemic of Ebola virus disease occurred in Liberia from 2014 to 2015, along with the neighbouring countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone. The first cases of virus were reported by late March 2014. The Ebola virus, a biosafety level four pathogen, is an RNA virus discovered in 1976.
Organizations from around the world responded to the West African Ebola virus epidemic. In July 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an emergency meeting with health ministers from eleven countries and announced collaboration on a strategy to co-ordinate technical support to combat the epidemic. In August, they declared the outbreak an international public health emergency and published a roadmap to guide and coordinate the international response to the outbreak, aiming to stop ongoing Ebola transmission worldwide within 6–9 months. In September, the United Nations Security Council declared the Ebola virus outbreak in the West Africa subregion a "threat to international peace and security" and unanimously adopted a resolution urging UN member states to provide more resources to fight the outbreak; the WHO stated that the cost for combating the epidemic will be a minimum of $1 billion.
In 2014, Ebola virus disease in Spain occurred due to two patients with cases of the disease contracted during the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa; they were medically evacuated. A failure in infection control in the treatment of the second patient led to an isolated infection of Ebola virus disease in a health worker in Spain itself. The health worker survived her Ebola infection, and has since been declared infection-free.
This article covers the timeline of the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa and its outbreaks elsewhere. Flag icons denote the first announcements of confirmed cases by the respective nation-states, their first deaths, and their first secondary transmissions, as well as relevant sessions and announcements of agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders; medical evacuations, visa restrictions, border closures, quarantines, court rulings, and possible cases of zoonosis are also included.
The following lists events that happened during 2014 in Sierra Leone.
The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa has had a large effect on the culture of most of the West African countries. In most instances, the effect is a rather negative one as it has disrupted many Africans’ traditional norms and practices. For instance, many West African communities rely on traditional healers and witch doctors, who use herbal remedies, massage, chant and witchcraft to cure just about any ailment. Therefore, it is difficult for West Africans to adapt to foreign medical practices. Specifically, West African resistance to Western medicine is prominent in the region, which calls for severe distrust of Western and modern medical personnel and practices.(see Ebola conspiracies below.)
Ebola virus disease in the United Kingdom has occurred rarely in four cases to date, namely three health workers returning from treating victims of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa in 2014 and 2015, and a single case in 1976, when a laboratory technician contracted the disease in a needlestick injury while handling samples from Africa. All cases recovered. As of 2022, no domestic transmission of Ebola has occurred in the United Kingdom.
Pauline Cafferkey is a Scottish nurse and aid worker who contracted Ebola virus disease in 2014 while working in Sierra Leone as part of the medical aid effort during the West African Ebola virus epidemic. She survived the illness.
Cases of the Ebola virus disease in Nigeria were reported in 2014 as a small part of the epidemic of Ebola virus disease which originated in Guinea that represented the first outbreak of the disease in a West African country. Previous outbreaks had been confined to countries in Central Africa.
Salomé Karwah was a Liberian nurse who was named co-Person of the Year by Time magazine in 2014 for her efforts to combat the West African Ebola virus epidemic. She appeared on the cover of Time in December 2014 with other health care workers and colleagues working to end the epidemic. Karwah survived ebola herself, before returning to work with Médecins Sans Frontières to help other patients afflicted with the disease. The actions of Karwah and other health care professionals are believed to have saved lives of thousands. However, two years later, Karwah died from complications of childbirth; her widower suggested that this might have been due to the widespread, mistaken belief that ebola survivors can still transmit the virus. Even before the ebola outbreak, Liberia had one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world.
Yvonne Denise Aki-Sawyerr, OBE is a Sierra Leonean politician and finance professional, who is serving as the current mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital and largest city; she assumed office on 11 May 2018. Prior to becoming head of the Freetown City Council, Aki-Sawyer had worked extensively in the UK financial and professional services industry. She had also taken either pioneering or crucial roles in various charity and public service projects in the UK and Sierra Leone, including participation in the fight against Ebola in 2014 and the subsequent recovery initiatives.
Claire Bayntun is a British physician specialised in global public health, director of Global Leadership Programmes, assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, advisor on health security and health protection, and trained mentor who coaches health leaders. She is vice-president of the Royal Society of Medicine, London.
References
- ↑ "Almost a quarter of men 'admit to rape in parts of Asia'". BBC News Health. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ↑ "'I. Am. So. Sorry': Talking about my pregnancy losses". BBC News. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- 1 2 "Talent 2010: The broadcaster, Tulip Mazumdar". The Independent. 29 December 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ↑ "I'm not sure what to say..." BBC Radio. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ↑ "Eye on England: Page 3 and the mystery of the missing Indians". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 25 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- ↑ "Speech Day". Twitter. Tulip Mazumdar. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ↑ "In The People Vs Ebola, Tulip Mazumdar travels to Sierra Leone". www.mediaupdate.co.za. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
- ↑ "Fighting our ebola fatigue with a pregnant teen and Patient Zero". The Sunday Times. London, England. 18 January 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
