COMMENTARY: Corruption creating more ebola victims
"In times of peace and stability, corruption deters foreign aid and investment. In times of national emergency, such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, corruption can mean the difference between life and death.
"That’s what went through my mind when I read in The New York Times about the travesty of a container of $140,000 worth of medical equipment from the United States held up at the port in Freetown, Sierra Leone since August 9. The rate of spread of the disease in that country is now at five per hour. Yet the container in Freetown, which holds protective gowns, gloves, stretchers, and mattresses, remains at the port until, it seems, a 'cash donation' is made to the right government official."
Read the commentary by Juliet S. Sorensen in takepart. The writer is a former Peace Corps volunteer and professor at Northwestern Law School, where she directs the Northwestern Access to Health Project, an interdisciplinary global community health partnership.
"That’s what went through my mind when I read in The New York Times about the travesty of a container of $140,000 worth of medical equipment from the United States held up at the port in Freetown, Sierra Leone since August 9. The rate of spread of the disease in that country is now at five per hour. Yet the container in Freetown, which holds protective gowns, gloves, stretchers, and mattresses, remains at the port until, it seems, a 'cash donation' is made to the right government official."
Read the commentary by Juliet S. Sorensen in takepart. The writer is a former Peace Corps volunteer and professor at Northwestern Law School, where she directs the Northwestern Access to Health Project, an interdisciplinary global community health partnership.