Tenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

After the calamitous outbreak of Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) in West Africa, the Harvard Global Health Institute and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine jointly launched the Independent Panel on Global Response to Ebola in 2015. Panel members from the academia and civil society have collectively reviewed the worldwide response to the Ebola outbreak and recommended major reforms. These reforms were proposed in the areas of prevention, response, research, and governance. However, less than four years after the publication of this comprehensive report, Sub-Saharan Africa is facing another outbreak of EVD in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the North Kivu and Ituri Provinces. This paper is a bioethical equity health discourse which ties the persistence of EVD outbreak in Africa to three factors. First is the pervasive impact of poverty and social inequity in Africa. Second, is the social inequity in which access to healthcare and food security as well as exposure to diseases could be attributed to bio-power and patriarchy. Third, is political instability and weak institutions of governance in Africa leading to ineffective healthcare systems, equipment, and structures, and the absence of trained health workers. I will conclude the paper by showing how a holistic approach to healthcare in Africa addresses these three challenges and how developing a holistic healthcare can bring about health equity. This holistic framework will be proposed as viable template for coordination and collaboration between all the stake holders in bringing about human well being in countries affected by EVD in Africa.