Inside Geneva’s Summer Profiles: Trish Newport

WEBVTT
00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:03.279
SwissInfo podcasts.
00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:10.960
This is Inside Geneva.
00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:19.359
I'm your host, Imogen Folkes, and this is a production from SwissInfo, the international public media company of Switzerland.
00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.239
In today's program.
00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.879
My grandma was a humanitarian.
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:26.559
She had worked in Malawi.
00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:38.320
And I remember when I was about 10 years old, she said to me, When you grow up and you become a humanitarian, you should work for Medicine Soft Frontier because they really have strong values and ethics that you will appreciate.
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:44.159
The World Health Organization says the rate Ebola is infecting people means there is community transmission.
00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:49.759
And the WHO warns without more public health measures, the virus could spread to new areas.
00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:51.600
It's not just an Ebola outbreak.
00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:56.960
It's an Ebola outbreak in a context with massive, massive humanitarian needs.
00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:19.040
A place to be buried quickly.
00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.040
More bodies keep arriving.
00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:27.200
The number of Ebola cases growing as health authorities struggle to contain the outbreak.
00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:32.079
A mother had her child, the child was sick, and then the mother died of Ebola.
00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:39.280
The grandmother took the baby, came to where our project is, the grandmother died, the baby is now sick with Ebola.
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.079
None of the family wants to come to the child because everyone that touches the family the child dies.
00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:46.640
It it just breaks your heart.
00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:52.480
The virus spreading through the Democratic Republic of the Congo, outrunning teams trying to contain it.
00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:56.079
It's now the third largest Ebola outbreak on record.
00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.799
And in the past months, it has expanded faster than any previous outbreak.
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:02.959
And people here, they're people.
00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:05.519
And we're all humans.
00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:10.639
And so I have a hard time understanding why we can't connect that way.
00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:17.120
Hello and welcome again to Inside Geneva.
00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.319
I'm Imogen Folk, and it's that time of year again.
00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:24.400
We're starting our regular series of summer profiles.
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:27.759
And today we've got a really topical one for you.
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.759
What's it like working to tackle an Ebola outbreak?
00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:36.080
What makes someone volunteer for such a dangerous mission?
00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:46.879
Right now, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current Ebola outbreak is, the World Health Organization says, the fastest spreading on record.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:52.000
It's happening in a region which has suffered conflict and insecurity for decades.
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:55.280
Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced.
00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.960
They lack life's basics shelter, medicines, clean water and sanitation.
00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:05.280
How do you combat a deadly disease in such conditions?
00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:13.759
Especially when this strain of Ebola, known as Bundibuggio, has so far no vaccine and no treatment.
00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:27.919
We're going to discuss all of that today with a nurse who works for Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders, who joined us from Bunya in DRC at the heart of the Ebola outbreak.
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:29.599
My name is Trish Newport.
00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:30.400
I'm Canadian.
00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.039
I'm from the Yukon, which is right next to Alaska.
00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:40.000
But currently I live in Geneva because I am the responsible for emergency response for MSF Switzerland.
00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:47.520
So I'm based in Geneva, but I travel all over the world to organize and coordinate large-scale emergency response.
00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:53.039
Right now you're actually in the Democratic Republic of Congo working on Ebola.
00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:59.039
Did you always plan on a job that would take you to such places?
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:00.960
I mean, how did you get into it?
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.800
I did, but I never planned to the scale that it would be.
00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:06.879
I always wanted to work for MSF.
00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.280
My grandma was a humanitarian.
00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:11.280
She had worked in Milanoe.
00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:22.720
And I remember when I was about 10 years old, she said to me, When you grow up and you become a humanitarian, you should work for Medicine Some Frontier because they really have strong values and ethics that you will appreciate.
00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.519
And so I just took this with without any thought.
00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.120
It was just became my truth.
00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:28.959
I will work for MSF.
00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:35.600
And so I did many other things because I didn't feel responsible or mature enough to have an adult job.
00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:42.319
And then when I finally decided to become a nurse, I actually called MSF and I said, I got accepted into nursing school.
00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.560
What do I need to do to be able to work for you?
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:49.279
And they gave me a list, which included working for two years and covering all these things.
00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.519
And two more years to the day of graduating, I applied to work for them.
00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.839
You you phoned up MSF, they told you what you want to do, then you get or got accepted.
00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:08.639
So I mean, nursing for médecins sans frontières is not your average Western hospital nursing or a clinic.
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:10.399
Where has this job taken you?
00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:12.000
What have you been confronted with?
00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.079
This job has taken me everywhere.
00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:18.000
I'm I'm so lucky to have had the experiences that I worked.
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.519
Um my first experience with MSF was in Djibouti.
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:23.600
I was offered a position in Djibouti.
00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:25.600
In Canada, we never learn about Djibouti.
00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:32.319
I actually had to look up Djibouti to see that it was a country, and I went to Djibouti Djibouti, which is the capital of Djibouti.
00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.720
Um and then from there I worked all throughout the Sahel.
00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.079
I worked a lot in acute malnutrition response for a number of years.
00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:41.199
So I worked in the world.
00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:56.560
It's hard to see, but you can really do well, you can really do something in the sense a little malnourished child comes, if they get plumpinut and proper care for six weeks, they become a fat little cute kid and and they go home.
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:02.240
What's challenging is that MSF saves lives for today for the changes that will come tomorrow.
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:08.000
And so we're not changing the context that these children are living in, and so they became malnourished for a reason.
00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:15.040
And so often we would see children recovered from malnutrition and then two months later they come back malnourished all over again.
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:20.079
And this was this was a hard thing to accept that we can't do everything.
00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:26.399
We need to have other organizations and and governments doing things, but at least we can be saving lives for today.
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:30.480
Well, right now, you're in Democratic Republic of Congo.
00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:36.879
You're there where this new Ebola outbreak is taking place.
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:38.879
What motivated you?
00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:39.360
Right.
00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:41.439
I've heard about this, I'm going there.
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:48.879
So I first did an Ebola response in 2018, and I became fascinated by this disease.
00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:50.800
It is it's horrible.
00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:57.279
It's horrible to families, it destroys families, but it's also very methodological.
00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.439
There's six pillars to outbreak response.
00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:04.240
If you have all pillars in place at the same time, you can stop an outbreak.
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:13.439
Um, and you can't just have one thing, you can't just have an isolation, you can't just have case management, you need to have every single pillar, and this I find fascinating.
00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:21.040
And so I became very involved in Ebola outbreak, and almost every single Ebola outbreak, I will be involved in it.
00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:22.720
So I'm happy to be here.
00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:25.839
I have worked in the DRC for many, many years.
00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.399
There are we have amazing staff here.
00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.720
I feel like I come home and I see the family.
00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:38.319
Um, I went to Mongwalu, which is our big Ebola response, it's one of the epicenters of the Ebola outbreak.
00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:45.040
And I got there and I just saw the family of Congolese staff who respond to every single Ebola outbreak.
00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:51.920
Um, and this we were joyed to be together and that we all know our work together.
00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.399
Um, and so while it's it's a really horrible situation, it's a disaster.
00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:00.879
We have an amazing team to work together, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.
00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:12.000
A lot of people will find your enthusiasm um it's almost enthusiasm more than a sense of of duty, which we imagine sometimes from aid workers.
00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:19.600
And many other people, you know, hearing the word Ebola would run in the opposite direction, but you not.
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.519
I mean, I'm even wondering what your family and friends think about you doing this.
00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.879
So I I mean, it's very genuine.
00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:29.279
I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world right now.
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.720
And I feel and I think a lot of people here feel we have the skills.
00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:34.480
We have the skills to help this.
00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.519
And so it it's a duty, but also a desire.
00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:48.159
If I'm able to help, and I'm able to help save lives, and I'm able to help find strategies and ways to stop this outbreak, why wouldn't I want to be involved?
00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:50.559
My family, they're used to it.
00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:51.840
Okay.
00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.559
They don't try and persuade you not to go.
00:08:54.960 --> 00:09:00.240
No, you know, I lived in a canvas tent in in the remote wild of the Yukon for ten years.
00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.399
They they know that there's no hope.
00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.480
So you like challenging physical environments then?
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:07.039
I love it.
00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:08.720
Yeah, you thrive on them.
00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:16.399
Okay, well, on that that point then, what isn't a day like for you right now in in DRC?
00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:22.399
I'm really the manager and the coordinator of MSF Switzerland's response here in Etori.
00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:35.120
So I work a lot, I talk with all of our different projects, but I also work a lot in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and with other organizations all about how to collaborate and organize this response.
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:37.759
I unfortunately am in a lot of meetings.
00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:43.120
Um, but I also, in the end, we're responsible for the security management of our teams.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.720
And this is it's not just an Ebola outbreak.
00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:52.159
It's an Ebola outbreak in a context with massive, massive humanitarian needs.
00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:09.840
What that has high insecurity, there's ongoing conflict, and so there's also it's not just about talking about Ebola, it's also about networking with different actors that can share information about the context and the security and to figure out how we can also respond to the humanitarian needs in the area.
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:11.360
We can't ignore them.
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:18.480
Before the Ebola outbreak started, we had five big humanitarian responses in Itori province.
00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:38.159
And so those, most of them have continued on, and so now there's Ebola creeping into these projects, into big displacement camps that have horrible sanitation, and so spend a lot of time, one, really advocating for other actors to respond, not just to Ebola, but also to the humanitarian response.
00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:51.600
So I do a lot of discussions, a lot of advocacy, um, but I also visit the projects, which sounds easier than said because you can take six hours on the very bad roads um getting to where you need to be.
00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:57.120
But I can't support the projects or advocate for what is needed if I don't actually see what's going on.
00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.039
And what are you seeing?
00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:06.559
I mean, we heard the WHO just a couple of days ago saying that this outbreak is the fastest spreading ever.
00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:07.919
We see that.
00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:19.279
We see in a lot of Ebola outbreaks, you have a little hot spot and you can manage and it stays small, and then you see another hotspot and you can move there, but you have time, right?
00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.519
You f you follow the epidemiology.
00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.720
Um, here it just started, it was so big already.
00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:31.759
By the time um the outbreak was declared, there were over 300 suspect cases, over 55 deaths.
00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:33.360
So it was massive.
00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.679
And so we've never ever caught up to it.
00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:40.559
When I say we, it's not just MSF, it's the entire response, it's the Ministry of Health.
00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:44.399
It's the 17th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:46.399
The Ministry of Health knows how to respond.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.840
It's it's just the sheer amplitude of this, right?
00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:54.159
Right now there are areas that have Ebola cases and no one is responding to it.
00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:02.320
And this is scary because if this is happening, it means people that are responding, local Ministry of Health staff, don't have the training.
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:14.480
If you respond to Ebola without proper training, without the knowledge and experience, you're really exposed, and there's a high risk people will get infected and then the the outbreak will just continue.
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:30.080
We see the outbreak is starting to go into areas with high, high insecurity, where we hear about community deaths, but you don't have access to them to be actually sampling to see if it's Ebola or not, or to have um or to have a proper Ebola response.
00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.879
I just went to visit one of our projects in Fitaki.
00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:38.799
There was a population of about a hundred thousand people that were forced to flee because of fighting.
00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:51.759
There ain't a hundred thousand people in a displacement camp on a hill, it's very crowded, very poor sanitation, there's not enough latrines for everyone, there's not enough water, and Ebola cases have started there.
00:12:52.320 --> 00:13:05.200
And so we already have activities in the camp, we provide water, we provide health care in the in the camp, but how to possibly I mean respond to Ebola and the humanitarian response.
00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.200
I mean, there weren't enough humanitarian responders there in the first place.
00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:11.519
Um, it's extremely challenging.
00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:17.919
How is MSF, do you feel you have trust from from the local communities?
00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:23.360
Because we know that in previous outbreaks this has been a real problem, suspicion and mistrust.
00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.399
Yes, so it's not an easy answer.
00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:30.159
MSF has been present in Ituri Province since 2005.
00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:35.120
We have covered almost every area, right, for emergency response.
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:37.919
Um, so the population in general knows us.
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.559
In Mongwalu, we had never ever been to Mongalu.
00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:43.440
Humanitarian actors hadn't been to Mongalu in general.
00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:44.639
It's a real mining area.
00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.960
It's a town of about 150,000.
00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:51.679
And so it was a big work for our teams to really engage with the community.
00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:52.720
It was in the news.
00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:58.240
The first day our teams arrived, they put up a tent, it was empty, they went to bed, it got burned down.
00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.960
It was maybe one of the best things that could have happened.
00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:19.840
Because it said, okay, we need to pause, we need to look at all the lessons learned from the 2018-2020 outbreak where there was a lot of violence towards the Ebola response, and we need to like take a moment, engage with the community, see how they're feeling, and ask them what their priorities are.
00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:34.960
Because in the 2018-2020 outbreak that was in Itori and North Kivu, there was a lot of violence, and at one some point I asked one of our staff why there was so much violence towards the Ebola response, and he said to me, Ebola is your priority.
00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:36.639
It's not our priority.
00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:40.480
We don't have access to running water, we don't have access to clean water.
00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:51.840
I've had children die of malaria because they don't have access to treatment, and then you guys come in with all of your money because you care about Ebola, but you don't care about us having water or access to basic medication.
00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.519
And this changed the way that I see Ebola response.
00:14:55.600 --> 00:15:01.919
And in that outbreak, we started, we stopped responding to Ebola, and we would go into communities and we would say, What is your priority?
00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:09.279
So in Mongolou, after the tent was burned, I'm so proud of our teams, they went to the community and they said, What is your priority?
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.679
And they said, We need this outbreak to stop.
00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:13.840
We have so many people dying in this community.
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.600
We need pe we need safe and dignified burials, we need isolation.
00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:20.720
And our team said, Great, how do we do this together, right?
00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.480
Because even if they want it, there's still going to be problems.
00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:32.159
And so they actually made a group of the leaders in the community who commit to responding to the problems.
00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:41.120
So if there are any, if we have any like harassment, our team calls this group of community leaders who will come and deal with the problem.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.360
And so this is something you have to continue to renew.
00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:46.639
You have to continue to engage.
00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.960
It's not like you can say, check community engagement, now we get to move on.
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:54.159
Um, but it it's a huge, it's a huge amount of work.
00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:00.559
So it's a constant working together and establishing and re-establishing trust.
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:01.279
Totally.
00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.720
And having them engaged in the response.
00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:10.000
We can't just say this is how it needs to be done, but to say, how can we do this in your community?
00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:12.720
Like these are the principles of Ebola response.
00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.480
How do you see this working in community and how can we make this happen together?
00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.519
It can't be the same way that we do it in every single community.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:20.720
Every community is different.
00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:37.600
Do you think aid agencies have in the past I mean, I know this is a bit of an old chestnut and it gets talked about a lot, but do you think you are maybe still suffering from this maybe 10, 20, 30 years ago, aid agencies go and say, this is how we do it, and don't look at the community or the local culture at all?
00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.559
I feel like this still happens all of the time.
00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:46.559
I mean, there are organizations that definitely focus on community engagement, but there are so many that don't, right?
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:56.799
And it's also about don't donor structures and the way that donors give money, because they say we will give money for exactly this, and then an organization needs to come and do exactly this.
00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:06.960
Um and so if the community says, no, no, we want it this way, or this is our priority, a lot of organizations don't have the don't have the donor structure to be able to do that.
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:22.720
Let's let's actually, since you've mentioned it, let's talk about finances because um this is, and you know because you you when you're not in the field, you're in Geneva, you know the absolute shock of all of this the cuts in funding.
00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.039
MSF is maybe a little bit shielded.
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:33.119
You're you don't get money from states mostly, you get it's private, but are you seeing the funding cuts in this outbreak?
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:35.359
So that's a hard one to answer.
00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:37.039
I'll answer it in two different ways.
00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:43.039
The first way is that in the last year and a half, we've seen a lot of actors leave eTory.
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:51.440
We have seen funding cuts, and so regular humanitarian activities were cut and organis organizations left.
00:17:51.920 --> 00:18:01.359
Which left I mean, that would also hinder just the general sense of well-being well-being of communities and also surveillance, I would guess.
00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:02.799
All of this, right?
00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:13.200
And so it impacts surveillance, it impacts the well-being of the population, and there's sentiment about the objectives and motivations of humanitarian organizations.
00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:20.480
Because then it leaves a bigger humanitarian situation to respond to, which makes it harder to respond to Ebola.
00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:24.400
And now all these organizations are coming back with money just for Ebola.
00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:29.279
And it reminds me of the situation we faced in 2018-2020.
00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:32.160
And so this first I think is a real challenge.
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:40.240
And then the second part is it's hard to say if the funding cuts have impacted this, but the response is not big enough.
00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:41.359
This we see.
00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:43.839
I mean, it is a massive Ebola outbreak.
00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.319
In Bunya, which is where I am right now, there's a big response for Ebola.
00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:49.920
It's still not big enough.
00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:56.160
Um, there's not enough beds for patients, and not every single pillar is functioning and working today.
00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.759
You step outside of Bunya, there's very little, right?
00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:07.039
We're in Mongolu, and usually in an Ebola outbreak, we might be doing case management and some part of outreach.
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:16.319
In mongulu, because there's other actors doing things now, we're doing in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, we're doing almost every single pillar.
00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:21.359
And this just is is there's not enough actors, there's not enough actors anywhere.
00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.119
There's not enough funding, there's not enough international support.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:27.359
Um, is it related to funding cuts?
00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:28.240
This I can't say.
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:34.000
That's out of my like knowledge and and scope, but I can see on the ground, we see that it's not big enough.
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.640
So, where do you think this outbreak is is going?
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.799
I mean, is it out of control at the moment?
00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.599
It is a very, very concerning situation.
00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.440
Um, and as long as there's not adequate surveillance, it will move.
00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:50.079
I mean, the good thing about Ebola is that it doesn't have pandemic potential.
00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.759
That's because you can't be infectious unless you're symptomatic.
00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.480
And it's not respiratory transmission.
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.519
And because of these two things, it doesn't have pandemic potential.
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:01.440
But does it ha does it have potential to move?
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:02.240
Oh yes.
00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:04.720
If you don't have proper surveillance in place.
00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:15.680
Usually in an Ebola outbreak, for every new case, you identify everyone that was in close contact with that new confirmed case, and then you follow all of those people for 21 days.
00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:25.279
Following them means they need to take their temperature twice a day, and as soon as they have fever or any sign of illness, they need to be isolated so that they're not going to infect anyone else and get tested.
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:30.160
But today, that contact tracing, the follow-up, it's not being done everywhere.
00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.799
And so we don't know who's at risk of having Ebola.
00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:38.400
And and so we really have no global overview of the situation today, and that is frightening.
00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:45.920
And what do you say to people in countries, well, like Canada or maybe here in Europe?
00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.799
Ah, it's Ebola's not really our problem.
00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.160
We need our money for us here at home.
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:58.559
This is, I mean, I I can see where people come from in the sense that everyone lives their own reality, right?
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:09.119
Um, but there is a real global risk if we're not putting resources into responding to neglected illnesses or illnesses that don't come about very well very often.
00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:16.640
Boonjibugio virus, which is causing this outbreak, it's the third time there's been a known boonjeboogio outbreak in history.
00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:22.559
And there has been discussion before there needs to be more research and development about these Ebola viruses.
00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.400
It hasn't happened, right?
00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.720
Money goes to other places.
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:32.799
Um, we think of COVID, I mean, viruses appear, and the more research and development that is done, we learn lessons.
00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:36.000
There's transversal knowledge that happens.
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:46.960
Um, and so I think being able to have answers like treatments, increased diagnostic capacity for any illness helps the entire world.
00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:50.720
And people here, they're people, they're humans.
00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.119
You know, it's it breaks my heart.
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:57.119
There are families that have had 15 people die in their family.
00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.279
There was this horrible story in Fitaki.
00:21:59.519 --> 00:21:59.839
This week.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.759
Week where a mother had her child, the child was sick, and then the mother died of Ebola.
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:12.720
The the grandmother took the baby, came to where our project is, the grandmother died, the baby is now sick with Ebola.
00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:17.119
None of the family wants to come to the child because everyone that touches the child dies.
00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:18.799
It just breaks your heart.
00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:23.839
I mean, and the there are these stories over and over again of people who have dealt with so much trauma.
00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:25.519
And we're all humans.
00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:29.920
Um, and so I have a hard time understanding why we can't connect that way.
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:39.200
I know it's hard to look ahead in a situation like this, but there is a lot of attention on this outbreak now.
00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:43.279
Where do you think you're gonna be in a couple of months?
00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:45.920
Where do you think this outbreak's gonna be in a couple of months?
00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:46.799
I hope.
00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.200
Well say what I uh what I see and what I hope.
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:54.000
I hope that there will be more actors here and it will start to be better managed.
00:22:54.559 --> 00:23:00.319
Um, and and that we can start to take a grasp of it, catch up to it, and actually start to control it.
00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:10.720
Um, but this doesn't happen if we don't have resources in place, if there's not more international support to be able to um respond to this outbreak.
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:15.279
One of our staff, we were sitting around the other night, and I said, What is going to happen here?
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.440
And one of our Congolese staff said to me, Trish, everything has an end.
00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:21.519
It's going to end at some point.
00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:27.279
It's just a question about how long it takes and how many resources are put into place to actually stop it.
00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:28.880
And how many people die.
00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:34.400
And how many people die, and how many families are really destroyed by the virus.
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.599
And that brings us to the end of this edition of Inside Geneva.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:56.720
Huge thanks to Trish Newport and MSF Switzerland for making the time for this interview in the midst of such demanding work and difficult conditions.
00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:01.039
We wish Trish and all her colleagues all the very best.
00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:10.640
Next time we'll be profiling an aid worker currently tasked with keeping the Geneva Conventions relevant in 21st century warfare.
00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:19.680
And in a way, also profiling one of the most recognizable, iconic symbols in the world, the Red Cross emblem itself.
00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:23.119
The emblem it's it's a symbol of hope.
00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:30.240
It's a symbol of, okay, there is a human in the midst of war, of awful situation.
00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:40.079
There are people who are looking at this emblem because they know maybe their family will be found, or maybe they will get medical treatment.
00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:46.000
Does the emblem need to go digital to protect vital infrastructure from cyberattacks?
00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:54.960
The fact that cyber attacks are more and more done by machine, we are talking about a machine talking to another machine.
00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:08.480
The computers themselves, we know that this is a sign, and maybe one day these attacks will be avoided because the system, the standard, will be saying this is a protected server, this is a protected data.
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:31.839
That episode's out on August 4th, and later in our summer profiles, we'll be talking to UN women about the consequences of cuts in aid funding on women and girls, and we'll hear from a pair of human rights defenders how to keep support for human rights alive when some of the most powerful nations on earth are pushing back.
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.079
All that and more this summer on Inside Geneva.
00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.480
I'm Imogen folks.
00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.400
Thanks for listening.
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:51.200
A reminder you've been listening to Inside Geneva, a Swiss Info production.
00:25:51.440 --> 00:26:01.039
You can email us on inside Geneva at SwissInfo.ch and subscribe to us and review us wherever you get your podcasts.
00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:15.039
Check out our previous episodes how the International Red Cross unites prisoners of war with their families, or why survivors of human rights violations turn to the UN in Geneva for justice.
00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.960
I'm Imogen folks, thanks again for listening.