VOA标准英语2015--Leaders Praised For Ebola Response

Leaders Praised For Ebola Response

A new report said critical decisions by African leaders helped turn the tide in West Africa’s Ebola outbreak. The Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, or AGI, said there is no substitute for political leadership.

Writing in the AGI report, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said, “It’s critical for people of the Ebola-affected countries to have a stake in their own futures¹.” She added that governments should “steer the course,” but everyone must take a “turn to row.”

Dan Hymowitz is head of the British charity’s Insight and Learning program and co-author of State of Emergency: How Government Fought Ebola.

He said, “We worked in the three countries on the Ebola response. This is a report that’s been developed based on our experience, our work and what we saw. And what we saw is that while there’s a perception out there that international actors, international organizations are primarily responsible for getting Ebola under control, what we saw is that it was Guineans, Sierra Leoneans and Liberians who really stepped-up to manage this crisis.”

The report cited specific decisions made by the leaders of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. For example, Sierra Leone Leader Ernest Bai Karoma ordered the military to take the lead against Ebola because the Ministry² of Health lacked resources.

“I think that one was important just recognizing that this wasn’t purely³ a health challenge. A lot of the challenges of managing this crisis was getting the whole system to work. There were a lot of issues around logistics -- just getting all the parts working together,” said Hymowitz.

In Liberia, President Sirleaf went against culture and tradition by ordering the bodies of Ebola victims cremated⁴ and not buried. She acted on warnings from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

“This was one of the most frightening and difficult moments in Ebola in Liberia. It was during those very frightening days where, you know, you had predictions of a future of 10,000 cases a day maybe in January. That’s what the CDC and WHO were predicting. Liberia basically had run out of space to bury bodies in the county that includes Monrovia, the capital of Liberia,” he said.

Hymowitz said in Guinea, President Alpha Condé “mobilized funds” from a tight budget to buy protection equipment and ambulances -- and pay those who responded to the crisis.

“In the early days of the response, before there had been the major international mobilization of resources, you had to find the resources. And again, I think that’s another very good example of leadership from the top to get things moving.”

The report said leaders are a symbol and must be seen to lead, adding they can delegate work, but not accountability.

It recommended that systems and structures be put in place to allow the government to make the right decisions. It said there are two important lessons for effective response: keep it simple, get it started and adapt it; and work out what information decision-makers need.

Hymowitz said credit must also be given to local heroes in the fight against Ebola. He gave the example of a woman he worked with in Monrovia.

“Very late in the epidemic⁵ in Liberia there was a situation where 30 gang members had been exposed to the disease. And it was a real risk that they might infect others in the city. And it was a young Liberian woman named Priscilla Dilah who was able to negotiate with the gang and convince them to self-quarantine and basically spend the next 21 days in isolation⁶ together.”

The Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative also has recommendations for international partners, who are also described as heroes. It said that “the response was most effective when international partners supported the governments’ leadership, strategies and plans, rather than pushing their own.” Donors⁷, it said, must be clear about what they can and cannot do – and be ready to adapt to ever changing situations.

AGI recommended using the lessons learned from Ebola to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recover from the epidemic.

1 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

4 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

5 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》