Liberia health system 'falling apart', MSF
Monrovia, 10 Aug - (ANA) - The charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) has said that Liberia's medical services have been completely overwhelmed by the Ebola outbreak.
The MSF co-ordinator in Liberia said official figures were "under-representing the reality", and that the health system was "falling apart". Nearly 1,000 people have died and 1,800 have become infected in West Africa. Meanwhile, neighbouring Guinea has denied earlier reports that it had sealed its borders.
On Saturday Liberian police broke up a protest against the government's response. The Ebola outbreak - the worst ever - is centred on Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but has spread to other countries in recent months. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the virus was a global health emergency. The MSF co-ordinator for Liberia, Lindis Hurum, said: "Our capacity is stretched beyond anything that we ever done before in regards to ebola response." She said five of the biggest hospitals in the capital Monrovia had closed for more than a week. "Some of them have now started to re-open but there are other hospitals in other counties that are just abandoned by the staff. "We are definitely seeing the whole health care system that is falling apart." (ANA)

FA/ANA/10 August 2014