The West-African Ebola virus outbreak in 2014-1015, claimed more than 11.000 lives and infected almost 29.000. During a few months in 2014, the weak and fragile health systems in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia was overwhelmed with a urgent and radically new challenge. The fear of contracting the Ebola virus, the death of health staff, the following closure of health facilities, and the disruption of essential health programs, increased all-causes of mortality.
CapaCare board members Håkon Bolkan, Alex van Duinen and Bart Waalewijn (along with others) just published an article on admissions and surgery as indicators of hospital functions in Sierra Leone during the West-African Ebola outbreak. The study assessed all hospitals offering surgery and anesthesia within an operation theatre in Sierra Leone prior to the EVD-outbreak. Twenty-one Community Health Officers, enrolled in CapaCare´s Surgical Training Program, collected the data from available hospital logbooks through biweekly visits from September 2014 till the end of the outbreak in May 2015. All hospitals were assessed for non-Ebola admission, volume of surgery, caesarean deliveries and inguinal hernia repairs. The full article can be read here.
