Bruce Aylward: Humanity vs. Ebola. How we could win a terrifying war
Bruce Aylward: La humanidad contra el Ébola. Estrategias ganadoras en una guerra terrible
As the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization’s Polio and Emergencies Cluster, Bruce Aylward works to ensure that polio stays under control and that the world is prepared to respond to health crises. Full bio
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a couple of months ago,
esta charla hace un par de meses,
of titles with the organizers,
títulos con los organizadores,
kicked around and were discussed.
muchas propuestas diferentes.
[Derrotar al Ébola]
was two months ago,
aumentaron exponencialmente
than we had ever seen,
geográficas como nunca antes,
concerned and alarmed
preocupado y alarmado
seen in recent history.
visto en la historia reciente.
and I can talk to you about beating Ebola
hablarles de cómo vencer al Ébola
whom you've never heard of,
que nunca han oído hablar,
doctor who's working in Lofa County,
que trabaja en el condado de Lofa,
never heard of, probably, in Liberia.
nunca oyeron hablar, en Liberia.
is so important
just starting to escalate,
the epicenter of this epidemic.
en el epicentro de la epidemia.
y el centro de tratamiento de allí
and the treatment center there,
decenas de pacientes todos los días,
every single day,
were becoming more and more terrified
eran cada vez más asustados
and what it was doing to their families,
y sus consecuencias, en sus familias,
to their children, to their relatives.
en sus hijos, en sus familiares.
driving that 12-hour-long rough road
y condujó12 horas por un camino difícil
up to Lofa County,
hasta el condado de Lofa,
to the escalating epidemic there.
una epidemia de rápida difusión.
the terror that I just mentioned to you.
el terror que les contaba.
and he listened.
los líderes locales, y escuchó.
and the desperation
y la desesperación
por esta enfermedad.
that Ebola did to people,
el Ébola a las personas,
and what it did to communities.
y lo que hizo a las comunidades.
quienes le dijeron:
and what they told him --
when our children are dying,
están enfermos, moribundos,
we want to be closest to them.
cuando más lo necesitan.
of them as our tradition demands.
cuando mueren como manda la tradición.
the bodies to bury them
los cuerpos para enterrarlos
our rituals demand.
y la comunidad.
deeply disturbed, deeply alarmed
profundamente alarmados
was unraveling in front of them.
como se desataba la epidemia.
workers who had come,
con los médicos que asistieron,
and help save the community,
a ayudar a la comunidad,
and they were unable to access them.
por no tener acceso a ellos.
Peter explained to the leaders.
la situación a los líderes.
They turned the tables.
Y cambiaron de opinión.
He explained what the disease was.
qué era la enfermedad.
to their communities.
a las comunidades.
everything that made us human.
todo lo que nos hacía humanos.
the way you would in this situation.
a los hijos como en otra situación.
a los muertos como querríamos.
the way that you would.
in these space suits to do that for you.
de trajes espaciales lo harán.
happened then was rather extraordinary:
algo extraordinario:
la salud, Peter, se sentaron juntos
Peter, they sat down together
for controlling Ebola in Lofa County.
control del Ébola en el condado de Lofa.
an important story, ladies and gentlemen,
damas y caballeros,
right at the center of this epidemic
epicentro de la epidemia,
you've been seeing in the newspapers,
en los periódicos,
the television screens,
without seeing a single case of Ebola.
sin ver un solo caso de Ébola.
the job is done, obviously.
el trabajo, obviamente.
that there will be additional cases there.
de que broten nuevos casos.
is that Ebola can be beaten.
que se puede superar el Ébola.
that we saw in this environment here,
cómo vimos en este ambiente,
puede ser derrotado.
with health care workers, work together,
con los trabajadores de la salud
in Lofa County in the first place?
de Lofa, en primer lugar?
12 months, to the start of this epidemic.
12 meses, al inicio de esta epidemia.
this virus went undetected,
este virus no fue detectado,
or four months when it began.
cuando empezó a extenderse.
a disease of West Africa,
de África Occidental.
a medio continente de distancia.
half a continent away.
la enfermedad antes;
the disease before.
they were dealing with,
even more complicated,
a type of a presentation
se presentaba de un modo
the disease, people who knew Ebola.
no reconocía la enfermedad.
for some time,
durante algún tiempo.
sometimes these days,
al contrario de la opinión pública,
there was a rapid surge in of support.
la ayuda viene rápidamente.
center, as many of you know, in the area.
rápidamente un centro de tratamiento allí,
and the partners that it works with
y los socios con los que trabaja
over the next two months
en los siguientes 2 meses
de la evolución del virus.
is by then, this virus,
es que para entonces, este virus,
had spread too far.
se había extendido demasiado.
one of the largest responses
las respuestas más grandes
to an Ebola outbreak.
contra un brote de Ébola.
not just Guinea
were also infected.
también estaban infectados.
the numbers were increasing
geográficamente, las victimas aumentaban
hundreds of people infected
cientos de personas infectadas
the front line responders,
los trabajadores voluntarios,
responders
y los colaboradores
comprendieron la situación emergencia.
recognized the emergencies.
they agreed on common action
coincidieron en la acción común
de operación conjunta en Conakry
joint operation center in Conakry
disease and get it stopped,
esta enfermedad y hacer que se detenga,
we talked about.
que hablamos.
we had never seen before with Ebola.
antes visto con el Ébola:
or someone sick with the virus,
con el virus,
flew to another country,
we saw in another distant country
vimos en otro país lejano
in the teeming metropolis of Lagos,
en la bulliciosa metrópolis de Lagos,
there was international alarm,
estalló el pánico internacional,
we hadn't seen in recent years
escala no vista en los últimos años
called together an expert panel,
convocó de inmediato a una red de expertos
el estado de emergencia internacional.
declared an international emergency.
that there would be a huge outpouring
una gigantesca ola
to help these countries
para ayudar a estos países
and concern at that time.
y dificultades en ese momento.
something very different.
many, many NGOs and others, as you know,
y otros, como ya saben,
happened in many places.
lugares ocurrió lo contrario.
these countries found themselves
estos países se encontraron
but increasingly isolated.
cada vez más aislados.
started flying into these countries
que al volar a estos países,
habían estado expuestas al virus
exposed to the virus
for the countries themselves,
para los propios países,
trying to bring people in,
trataban de traer personas
respond to the outbreak,
people on airplanes,
countries to be able to respond.
a los países para ofrecer ayuda.
ladies and gentleman,
also we hadn't seen before.
continue in the places
en los lugares
sino que los casos se multiplicaron
but then it started to escalate
that you see here,
on such a scale,
already infected in these countries
o zonas ya infectadas
deeper into these countries.
this was one of the most concerning
internacionales más preocupantes
we've ever seen.
read about in the newspapers,
lo leyeron en los periódicos,
under the weight of this epidemic.
bajo el peso de esta epidemia.
markets no longer started,
no abrieron los mercados,
that they should in these countries.
se esperaba en estos países.
misperceptions started to spread
y las interpretaciones erróneas
which became even more alarmed
lo que generó más alarma
that you saw in those space suits,
personas de trajes espaciales,
who had come to help them.
que venían a ayudarlos.
deteriorated even further.
a state of emergency.
un estado de emergencia.
in some areas, and then riots broke out.
vieron como luego estallaron disturbios.
many people began to ask,
empezaron a preguntarse
when it starts to spread like this?
cuando empieza a extenderse así?
do we really know this virus?
conocíamos realmente a este virus?
Ebola extremely well.
al Ébola demasiado bien.
in terms of what we know about it.
en relación a todo lo que sabemos de ella.
in Central Africa in 1976.
en África Central en 1976.
sabemos muchas cosas:
probably survives in a type of a bat.
sobrevive en un tipo de murciélago.
a human population
a una población humana
con un animal salvaje
and probably sickened by it.
spreads from person to person
se propaga de persona a persona
corporales contaminados.
that it then causes in humans,
terrible enfermedad en humanos,
severe fevers, diarrhea, vomiting,
of the cases or often more, death.
de los casos, o a menudo más, la muerte.
debilitating, and deadly disease.
muy peligrosa, debilitante y mortal.
this disease for a particularly long time,
durante tanto tiempo,
we do know how to stop this disease.
cómo detener la enfermedad.
that are critical to stopping Ebola.
para detener el Ébola.
have got to understand this disease,
tienen que entender esta enfermedad,
how it spreads and how to stop it.
se transmite y cómo detenerla.
systems that can find every single case,
que detecten todos los casos
en cada uno de los casos,
so that you can stop transmission.
de transmisión para detenerla.
specialized Ebola treatment centers,
de tratamiento de Ébola,
to the people who are infected,
a las personas infectadas,
a la enfermedad.
the same time dignified, burial process,
at that time as well.
en ese momento, tampoco.
strategies work, ladies and gentlemen.
el Ébola, damas y caballeros.
by these four strategies
con estas 4 estrategias
que las implementó, obviamente.
them, obviously.
spread, and also in the other countries
por este virus, en este brote.
in this outbreak.
these strategies actually work.
estas estrategias funcionan.
was whether these strategies could work
es si estas estrategias funcionarían
with so many countries affected
con tantos países afectados
growth that you saw.
exponencial que vieron.
facing just two or three months ago.
hace 2 o 3 meses.
a esa pregunta.
because of the extraordinary work
a la extraordinaria labor
of governments, of local leaders,
de gobiernos, de líderes locales,
organizaciones humanitarias
and other organizations
to try and stop Ebola in West Africa.
al Ébola en África Occidental.
was slightly different.
algo un tanto diferente.
I just showed you;
estrategias que acabo de mostrar;
the case finding, contact tracing, etc.,
casos, localización de contactos, etc.,
they approached it differently.
lo abordaron de manera diferente.
first try and slow down this epidemic
possible in specialized treatment centers
casos posibles en centros especializados
from spreading from those were infected.
la enfermedad por los infectados.
muchos equipos de entierro
many, many burial teams
deal with the dead,
de forma segura
and slow this outbreak
be controlled using the classic approach
controlarlo con el enfoque clásico
y localización de contactos.
about three months ago,
hace unos 3 meses,
what I saw was extraordinary.
vi algo extraordinario.
operation centers themselves against Ebola
de emergencia contra el Ébola
and oversee and champion
to try and stop this disease.
para detener la enfermedad.
those countries and from far beyond
Ebola treatment centers
de tratamiento contra el Ébola
those who were sick.
its partner agencies on the ground there
con sus organismos asociados en el terreno
they could actually safely bury their dead
entierren a sus muertos de forma segura.
del Programa Mundial de Alimentos,
the World Food Program,
corner of these countries rapidly
los rincones rápidamente
that we just talked about.
las estrategias que hablamos.
which was probably most impressive,
quizá lo más impresionante
by the governments,
de los gobiernos,
with the communities,
con las comunidades,
understood this disease,
entendiera la enfermedad,
would have to do to try and stop Ebola.
necesario para detener al Ébola.
only two or three months earlier,
unos 2 o 3 meses antes,
what you see now in this graph,
el 1 de diciembre.
bend that curve, so to speak,
esta curva, por así decirlo;
to the ability to control this outbreak.
de mantener bajo control este brote.
there's absolutely no question now
ahora no hay dudas
in West Africa and we can beat Ebola.
en África Occidental y detener al Ébola.
that many people are asking,
y que muchas personas se hacen
that's great you can slow it down,
genial, pueden bajar la velocidad,
drive it down to zero?"
back at the beginning of this talk,
al comienzo de la charla,
de Lofa en Liberia.
how Lofa County got to a situation
de cómo en el condado de Lofa
de Ébola durante 8 semanas.
Ebola for eight weeks.
the other countries as well.
de otros países también.
actually diagnosed.
se diagnosticó el primer caso.
in the last couple of months,
en el último par de meses,
another area in the epicenter,
otra zona del epicentro,
for more than a couple of weeks --
por más de un par de semanas...
victory, obviously,
la victoria, obviamente,
damas y caballeros,
catch up to the disease,
controlar la enfermedad,
puede reducirse a cero.
is doing this on the scale needed
en la escala necesaria
and that is a huge challenge.
y eso es un gran reto.
for this long, on this scale,
por tanto tiempo, en esta escala,
come in to join the virus.
se suman al virus.
disease curve starts to bend,
la curva empiece a retroceder,
the world looks elsewhere.
el mundo mire para otro lado.
you've been working so hard for so long,
ha trabajado arduamente tanto tiempo,
over the past months,
en los últimos meses,
a verse en los que vinieron a ayudar.
start to creep into the response.
I've just come back from West Africa.
acabo de regresar de África Occidental,
the leaders of these countries,
los líderes de estos países,
in their countries.
con el Ébola en sus países.
but they are not fatigued.
cansados, pero no agotados.
to get this finished.
and gentlemen, at this point,
damas y caballeros,
international community,
de la comunidad internacional,
at this time, to get the job finished.
ahora para terminar la tarea.
significa cambiar de táctica
means turning the tables on this virus,
rather, started with one case,
esta crisis, se inició con un caso,
have got enough epidemiologists,
consiguen suficientes epidemiólogos,
and enough other people working with them
y gente que trabaje con ellos
of those cases, track their contacts
rastrear sus contactos
stops once and for all.
se detenga de una vez por todas.
el Ébola puede superarse.
to tell it to the people who will listen
difundan esta historia
on what it means to beat Ebola,
sobre qué significa derrotar al Ébola,
we need you to advocate with the people
que aboguen ante las personas
need to these countries,
que necesitan estos países,
who will survive and will thrive,
que sobrevivirá y prosperará,
to help us beat Ebola.
para ayudarnos a vencer al Ébola.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Bruce Aylward - EpidemiologistAs the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization’s Polio and Emergencies Cluster, Bruce Aylward works to ensure that polio stays under control and that the world is prepared to respond to health crises.
Why you should listen
A Canadian physician and epidemiologist who has authored some 100 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, Bruce Aylward is an expert on infectious diseases. He joined the World Health Organization in 1992 and worked in the field for seven years on national immunization programs for measles, tetanus and hepatitis in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Aylward has overseen and managed the scale-up of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1998, during which time the program expanded to operate in every country of the world, the annual global budget increased to $700 million a year, polio-funded staff deployed by WHO grew to over 3,500 people worldwide, and new monovalent oral poliovirus vaccines were developed for the programme. In 2014, only three countries remained polio-endemic.
He says: "It's been estimated that our investment in smallpox eradication pays off every 26 days."
Since 2011, Aylward has also led WHO’s work in preparedness, readiness and response to health emergencies. By developing global strategies, analyzing health trends and advising on policies and country collaboration, the WHO helps make sure that outbreaks — like the 2014 ebola epidemic — stay under control.
Bruce Aylward | Speaker | TED.com