Health personnel are critical to stemming the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, but the region remains sorely lacking in qualified professionals, a deficit the African Union is trying to address by calling on member states to send medical practitioners to the worst-hit countries.
The decision came after an unprecedented number of doctors and nurses had fallen victim to the virus and several public health workers abandoned their posts or protested the lack of support. More than 120 medical workers have died since March, including some of the affected countries’ top doctors and one international worker. But as the disease spread further, agencies like Médecins Sans Frontières, which has been leading the response, has admitted it is being stretched in its capacity.
In response to the growing epidemic and need for more human resources working the front lines, the AU’s Peace and Security Council invoked Article 6(f) of its mandate in mid-August, authorizing the “immediate” deployment of military and civilian humanitarian missions to the affected countries. The crisis has now spread to six countries, the latest being Senegal. The World Health Organization said the virus found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is of a different strain and likely did not come from the Ebola-infected countries.