HIV/AIDS move over, the Big Boy is in town!

by Eze  Eluchie

Could there be any reasonable excuses why the World Health Organization and its partner public health agencies (particularly the Health Ministries) in the West African sub-region failed to initiate its Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) protocols in a timely manner in response to the outbreak of the Ebola virus across several countries in West Africa?

In response to earlier outbreaks of SARS and the H1N1 viruses in Southeast Asia, WHO had responded with incredible dispatch, in one instance, producing a dubious report which encouraged countries across the world to spend billions of dollars procuring and stocking vaccines which eventually proved useless and a waste.

Is there any reason why the West African Health Organization (WAHO), an arm of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) failed to be proactive and live up to its responsibilities when the current outbreak of the Ebola virus transcended national borders for the first time in the history of the infirmity?

WAHO and Public Health administrators across the West African sub-region, with their penchant and reliance on donor grants for most of their activities, tend only to look into matters that their foreign funders prioritize, irrespective of the domestic needs.

For over a decade, basic health care issues afflicting the vast majority of the populations of sub-Saharan Africa, such as Malaria, Malnutrition, and Cholera were relegated to the background and emphasis and funding support was focused on the HIV/AIDS. In most countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the budget for HIV/AIDS surpasses, by a wide margin, the combined total of the Health Ministry and all other health projects.

With mortality rates that dwarf HIV/AIDS, and means of infection which elicits widespread fear in the population, Ebola presents itself as, and is actually, a far greater danger to society than AIDS ever was. Public Health practitioners are unfortunately faced with an unsavory ‘my-disease-is-worse-than-yours’ situation. Enhancing the quality of life of peoples via good quality education, high public hygiene standards, provision of adequate preventive and primary health care services and facilities, rather than near-exclusive focus on particular ‘fashionable’ diseases will best serve the health interest of any population.


It is hoped that the ongoing experience of the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak will afford an opportunity to critically examine domestic health crisis response mechanism in Africa to forestall a repeat of the ongoing disaster.

Picture: Gloves and other apparel used by medical personnel tackling Ebola virus washed and left to dry for subsequent reuse – dearth of resources makes it impossible for disposables to be used. Not so for HIV/AIDS.  it is unfortunate those on the frontline of tackling Ebola have to recycle such materials. Disposables would have been far more hygienic. (an AFP Photo/Seyllou. Taken at Guekedou, Guinea, West Africa. April 2014)    

Stomping on the sickle

by Eze Eluchie

Do the various sanctions being levied against the Russian Federation by the United States and its European Union allies not qualify as acts of war?

Will Russia be justified in taking drastic actions to protect itself and its peoples from economic, social and political strangulation?

Is there a duty on Russia to ensure that its retaliation is commensurate with the sanctions levied? Or will it be justified in taking any and all measures its leadership deems fit?

Should it not suffice as a cause of worry for those imposing these sanctions that each new set of sanctions, increases President Vladimir Putin’s popularity and approval rating with the Russian population?

Where does sub-Saharan Africa fit in this entire fast developing scenario. What can we get from it (presuming most of those foisted over the continent as rulers have a thinking cap to put on).

We sure do live in interesting and perilous times.

Picture: 'Russian flag'

And the Big Bird fell from the skies….

by Eze Eluchie

The callousness in shooting down a fully laden passenger plane is simply benumbing.

On September 1, 1983, the Air Force of the Soviet Union had shot down Korean Airlines passenger airplane, (KAL) flight 007, killing all 269 passengers on board. In that instance, Flight KAL-007 (an ominous name for a flight) had strayed into sensitive and highly secretive areas of Soviet airspace and according to Soviet authorities failed to heed several warnings to change course. No consequences issued as a result of the massacre of passengers aboard KAL-007.

The downing of Malaysia Airlines with 295 passengers on board, whilst in Ukrainian airspace, certainly constitutes an international crime for which there ought to be severe consequences to whosoever perpetrated the act.

When one realizes that hundreds of ‘Surface-to-air’ missiles, alongside other weapons in the arsenal of the Libyan Armed Forces, were distributed to the Libyan ‘general’ public on the orders of late Libyan dictator, Moamar Qhadafi, during the twilight days of his regime, with some of these weapons in the hands of terror groups (inclusive of Boko Haram, AQIM and Ansaru), the need to up efforts to root out terror became urgent yesterday.

One of the busiest air routes in Africa, and globally, is the Lagos – London corridor, with over 50 weekly flights by an array of domestic and international carriers. The flight path on this route goes through the airspace of such volatile States as Libya, across ungoverned territories in the Sahara Desert and very much within the reach of Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and several fringe elements in the region.

Is there a likelihood of a domestic or international flight in Nigeria, or elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa being downed by Boko Haram, Al Shabaab or the myriad of terror groups in the region?

Do these terror groups possess the capacity and desire to execute such a heinous act?

If, as I believe, the answers to the above questions are in the affirmative, what remedial actions can be taken to forestall such copy-cat acts of terror?

If timely action is not taken to frontally confront terror groups across sub-Saharan Africa, it will not be a matter of 'if', but 'when', with regards to one of our Big Birds being brought down, with high human fatalities, by these fringe elements. 

In the light of the MH-17 massacre, there is an urgent need to enhance and strengthen the near non-existent Public Airspace safety infrastructure across Africa. 

Picture: One of the shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles carted away from Libyan Army arsenal, now in the possession of terrorists across sub-Saharan Africa.