• J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2016

    Strengthening Health Systems While Responding to a Health Crisis: Lessons Learned by a Nongovernmental Organization During the Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic in Sierra Leone.

    • Corrado Cancedda, Sheila M Davis, Kerry L Dierberg, Jonathan Lascher, J Daniel Kelly, Mohammed Bailor Barrie, Alimamy Philip Koroma, Peter George, Adikali Alpha Kamara, Ronald Marsh, Manso S Sumbuya, Cameron T Nutt, Kirstin W Scott, Edgar Thomas, Katherine Bollbach, Andrew Sesay, Ahmidu Barrie, Elizabeth Barrera, Kathryn Barron, John Welch, Nahid Bhadelia, Raphael G Frankfurter, Ophelia M Dahl, Sarthak Das, Rebecca E Rollins, Bryan Eustis, Amanda Schwartz, Piero Pertile, Ilias Pavlopoulos, Allan Mayfield, Regan H Marsh, Yusupha Dibba, Danielle Kloepper, Andrew Hall, Karin Huster, Michael Grady, Kimberly Spray, David A Walton, Fodei Daboh, Cora Nally, Sahr James, Gabriel S Warren, Joyce Chang, Michael Drasher, Gina Lamin, Sherry Bangura, Ann C Miller, Annie P Michaelis, Ryan McBain, M Jana Broadhurst, Megan Murray, Eugene T Richardson, Ted Philip, Gary L Gottlieb, Joia S Mukherjee, and Paul E Farmer.
    • Partners In Health Division of Global Health Equity Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
    • J. Infect. Dis. 2016 Oct 15; 214 (suppl 3): S153-S163.

    AbstractAn epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) beginning in 2013 has claimed an estimated 11 310 lives in West Africa. As the EVD epidemic subsides, it is important for all who participated in the emergency Ebola response to reflect on strengths and weaknesses of the response. Such reflections should take into account perspectives not usually included in peer-reviewed publications and after-action reports, including those from the public sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), survivors of Ebola, and Ebola-affected households and communities. In this article, we first describe how the international NGO Partners In Health (PIH) partnered with the Government of Sierra Leone and Wellbody Alliance (a local NGO) to respond to the EVD epidemic in 4 of the country's most Ebola-affected districts. We then describe how, in the aftermath of the epidemic, PIH is partnering with the public sector to strengthen the health system and resume delivery of regular health services. PIH's experience in Sierra Leone is one of multiple partnerships with different stakeholders. It is also one of rapid deployment of expatriate clinicians and logistics personnel in health facilities largely deprived of health professionals, medical supplies, and physical infrastructure required to deliver health services effectively and safely. Lessons learned by PIH and its partners in Sierra Leone can contribute to the ongoing discussion within the international community on how to ensure emergency preparedness and build resilient health systems in settings without either.© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

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