The deadly Ebola disease has so far claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people in West Africa. The death toll keeps rising, and at the moment there’s no stopping.

Over the past month or so, leaders of the worst-hit countries have been sounding one SOS call after the other wanting assistance from the international community to battle the virus and its spread. The disease has been mostly deadly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, three places known to have some of the world’s worst health systems.

With the assistance they are seeking, these countries are hoping to strengthen their healthcare delivery in order to be able to deal more effectively with the much-dreaded disease. Generally, Africa has some of the most deplorable health systems in the world.

There’s no denying the fact that Ebola poses a serious threat to humanity in general. But to those of us in countries with such poor health infrastructure, it is a much bigger threat. Much as we have tried to improve on them, our health systems remain poor and shambolic in the face of the threats that we face.

For decades, malaria has killed millions of Africans and is much more potent than Ebola, in my view. You can talk about other disgraceful diseases such as cholera which have exposed our health system’s weaknesses time and again.

Yet our leaders never acted with a sense of urgency to improve the system, and it had to take Ebola to remind us how shambolic our healthcare delivery is? Ebola is a very deadly and contagious disease, and we all are at risk irrespective of race and ethnicity. 

But good news is, it’s actually not a death sentence as some would have us believe – though the fatality rate is high and we need to cautiously manage it.

Talking about death sentence brings me to my second issue – the origin of Ebola. Africans are very good at conspiracy theories. Excellent at times. 

First, it was HIV/AIDS that was supposedly created in the lab to exterminate all Africans. All manner of weird analyses was made by people who should know better or people who knew next to nothing on epidemiology. Even till today, such theories abound. I was not shocked that such a similar theory was made for the Ebola disease. 

Africans always feel threatened. Why? I don’t know. Africans may have a genuine mistrust for non-indigenes, but that alone is not a reason to always imagine that there are other elements that would want to see an end to the African race.

I don’t want to go into the merits of whether diseases are created or not. It’s such a useless argument to engage in if you ask me. We live on a continent where quite a good number of women and babies die at birth. 

Who created such mess? Was it the white man?

We also live on a continent where pregnant women are carried piggyback into labour rooms to give birth. We also have deaths of babies resulting from loss of power during delivery.

But of course, it’s always convenient for us to blame others for our woes and not look at what we could have done to avert the problem. Blaming others for our problems does not solve them. Let’s keep that in mind.

It’s only sad that Ebola has occurred and sadly, it has some hundreds of lives more to claim before it is tamed. One of the funniest explanations I heard regarding Ebola pertains to a lack of interest among huge pharmaceutical multinationals to invest in a vaccine or cure.

Well, for me, I don’t fault these multinationals. They are in business to make a profit and if they don’t see any market for Ebola drugs, why should they pump huge monies into finding a cure. It’s a legitimate position and most businessmen will more than agree – businesses are not run on sentiments.

But in any case, aren’t there billionaires in Africa who can pool resources and invest in finding a cure? Must we always rely on help from the West, whose help is literally non-existent except for a few handouts? Recently in Washington, DC, at the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, the presidents of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, were at their best – cup in hand.

Must we as a continent always subject ourselves to such ridicule, then turn around to cry foul when we are looked down upon? In any case, I don’t see why a father should consistently beg to take care of his children – to provide food, shelter, and clothing or meet medical expenses. Such a child will have no place of pride among children from well-to-do families.

Although Ghana is yet to report a case, Ebola will no doubt expose our tragic healthcare system and the need for reforms -- reforms that will minimise maternal-child mortality and prevent deaths from diseases such as cholera and malaria. We don’t need any Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to tell us that our women are dying in labour. 

Our leaders must have a conscience.

We need to invest in healthcare delivery. Investment does not mean begging for alms and sinking it in nonexistent infrastructure. Let’s invest our sweat, our hard-earned taxes, into healthcare delivery. Why should we toil all our lives and later on die like fowls?

Did I hear you say I am oversimplifying the issue? Of course, it’s a simple issue. Government must be responsible for its people. With Ebola now affecting the US, I don’t think Obama has made a plea to the world to come to America’s aid. He is responsible for his people.
Our leaders must cut down on their luxuries. The thing call sacrifice. 

They should do it. 

So long as I pay my taxes to the government, it is they I will hold accountable. No two ways about that.

Have a lovely weekend.

I’m out.