The Fight Against Ebola

2014, Health  -   17 Comments
Ratings: 8.84/10 from 134 users.

Ebola bullies itself into the forefront of global awareness more and more every day, and VICE News' The Fight Against Ebola traces the virus' current outbreak to its roots in Guinea in December of 2013. It quickly found its way into Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at the time of the making of this film Liberia had become the focal point of what, by March 2014, had quickly developed into a full-on epidemic. In excess of 3000 infections had been recorded there to date, with around half of them proving to be fatal.

VICE reporter Danny Gold takes us into Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, to document the conditions that citizens there are being forced to combat in the wake of the virus' invasion. Redemption Hospital, the epicenter of Ebola treatment in the city, is where we are first introduced to the disparate state of healthcare workers' efforts to control and treat the outbreak. The facility is overwhelmed and incapable of treating the steadily increasing influx of new patients that are arriving literally by the van-load all day, every day.

An interview with a fearless ambulance driver reveals he has eight infected citizens in his vehicle behind him as he speaks with the filmmakers, and that they will be forced to remain in there until the hospital has room to take them in. Another interview outside the facility highlights an infected man lying in a latrine that had been there for hours because no beds were available inside. Not only is this terrible for the patients themselves, but after being denied admittance they are often forced back out into the community where they become conduits for spreading the virus.

The focus then moves to West Point, a nearby slum where the virus is also present. In the impoverished conditions here, even though the outbreak is not yet any more prevalent than elsewhere at the time of filming, there is still a much higher risk of the virus getting a foothold simply because of the population concentration and lack of resources to effectively mitigate risks.

The remainder of the film follows the crew as they join body retrieval teams claiming those that have succumbed to the virus, and explore various camps and temporary emergency treatment facilities.

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17 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Hannah

    For Christs' sake can people stop making such ignorant comments like "Africa is poor", these "poor Africans", "poverty stricken Africans", "helpless African souls" etc.

    Any African country is just like the US, in that there are outrageously rich people, very rich people, rich people, middle class people, working class people, comfortably poor people, poor people, very poor people, and extremely poor people.

    I grew up in Nigeria and have been to several other countries in Africa and this is the case everywhere. I've now lived in the US for 15yrs and can confidently say that some "comfortably poor" people in Africa are far richer than your average working class American. They may not have your modern day amenities and gadgets but unlike their American counterparts, they're not slaving everyday to paybills, keep a roof over their heads and survive either.

    Unfortunately, the mainstream media mostly chooses to focus on the very poor and extremely poor people in African countries perpetuating this very stupid and grossly misleading stereotype that everyone there is poor. American ghettos and projects are often more poverty stricken than these so called poor African regions but you'll NEVER EVER hear the words America and Poverty used in the same sentence.

    Please guys, open your eyes. Stop allowing media to deceive you and shape your perceptions of people and places you've never been to.

  2. Doctor Jack

    The whole ebola thing was staged. The main cause of premature death is and always has been lack of sanitation and mal nutrition and that has certainly been true for the so called ebola epidemic. The world has been made a much more ignorant place due to the false concepts of disease as promoted by medical interests. As Florence Nightingale once said, "Disease is not a thing like cats or dogs but rather conditions like clean or dirty." The countries that were targeted by the media several years ago for the whole 'ebola' thing are amongst the poorest in Africa or as our president would call them , shitholes, and, unfortunately, he's right. There's no sanitation, there's human feces and waste right in amongst their hovels and huts as well as animal wastes and debris. There's no difference between the conditions in present day poverty stricken Africa than there were in Europe during the time of "the plagues".

  3. gemma

    More people die from hunger then ebola the only reason it is such a big thing and they want to find a cure for it is because rich people can also die from ebola. Im not against finding a cure for ebola but i think this just sums up what a state the world is in.

  4. Richard Neva

    And Obama keeps the borders wide open to bring the disease home to Americans.

    1. Fabien L

      And a great total of 9 cases with one fatality so far. The border would be permanently closed if that is your threshold for possible health consequences. Imported drugs kill a lot more people than that every day.

    2. Richard Neva

      You completely missed my point. Ebola is a completely different situation and not drugs, duh!

    3. Fabien L

      It was only an example, your isolationist point is ridiculous. Even if you close the border with these countries, what forbids it to transit undetected via Europe, Asia or the Americas? Are you going to stop the entry of every plane, boat and truck?

      Also are you going to close the border every year during the Influenza season which is much more contagious and kills over a thousand every year?

    4. bluetortilla

      To "Americans?!!!" Are you insane or just a bigoted nationalist? Do you think the peoples of our world are sympathetic to a viewpoint that protects 'Americans' over other human beings? Are Americans more important than the rest of us? Ugh...

    5. bluetortilla

      Oh, and Neva is a troll in a suit. The only way not to get to stung is to grab him by the tailcoat.

    6. jackmax

      Your right he should close the borders, but for all the right reasons and they are to ensure that you and the people like you don't escape.....and infect the rest of us rational beings with your stupidity.

    7. Healer

      Obama is in good company. Hitler would have done the same thing for Jews.

  5. bringmeredwine

    It's good to see some real heroes in the midst of all this misery.

  6. Sacco Svd

    All in all I honestly think the powerful countries just don't give a s*it about this poor people....after using them as slaves for hundreds of years, after exploitation of all kind and promoting corruption and poverty in Africa. They just don't give a shit and that's a big SHAME for the human race.

    Thanks VICE for the insight.

  7. User_1

    Thanks for the great doc VICE. Man you guys are brave!

  8. oQ

    If an ebola pandemic crisis happens in North America, you can bet your life that no neighbours are gonna come to your rescue.
    One for all and all for one? ya, right!

    1. Fabien L

      It's very doubtful it will happen, Nigeria could stop the spread with simple quarantine and disinfection. I can't see it becoming epidemic in North America.

  9. bluetortilla

    I've always admired VICE's bravery. Now I see that they're angels. If in some months from now Ebola is raging over continents, it will be because the world just never cared about Africa, and they don't care now. That attitude is looming to strike back.