Bruce Aylward: Humanity vs. Ebola. How we could win a terrifying war
Bruce Aylward: A Humanidade contra o Ébola. Estratégias vencedoras numa guerra terrível.
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
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
a couple of months ago,
para fazer esta palestra,
of titles with the organizers,
com os organizadores
kicked around and were discussed.
de diferentes temas.
was two months ago,
than we had ever seen,
mais alargadas do que jamais se vira.
concerned and alarmed
preocupado e alarmado com esta doença
seen in recent history.
na História moderna.
and I can talk to you about beating Ebola
a falar em vencer o Ébola
whom you've never heard of,
nunca ouviram falar.
doctor who's working in Lofa County,
que trabalha no Condado de Lofa,
never heard of, probably, in Liberia.
provavelmente vocês nunca ouviram falar.
is so important
just starting to escalate,
a começar a aumentar,
the epicenter of this epidemic.
no epicentro desta epidemia.
and the treatment center there,
e o centro de tratamento ali
every single day,
were becoming more and more terrified
estavam cada vez mais assustadas
and what it was doing to their families,
que o tempo passava,
a fazer às suas famílias,
to their children, to their relatives.
aos seus filhos, aos seus parentes.
driving that 12-hour-long rough road
por uma estrada difícil, durante 12 horas,
up to Lofa County,
até ao Condado de Lofa,
to the escalating epidemic there.
a epidemia em progressão.
the terror that I just mentioned to you.
o terror que há pouco referi.
and he listened.
and the desperation
that Ebola did to people,
que o Ébola fazia às pessoas
and what it did to communities.
e o que fazia às comunidades.
and what they told him --
e o que eles lhe disseram:
when our children are dying,
estão doentes, estão a morrer,
we want to be closest to them.
em que queremos estar mais perto deles.
of them as our tradition demands.
conforme exige a nossa tradição.
the bodies to bury them
para os sepultar
our rituals demand.
e os nossos rituais".
deeply disturbed, deeply alarmed
perturbados e alarmados
was unraveling in front of them.
em frente deles.
workers who had come,
para os profissionais de saúde,
and help save the community,
tentar salvar a comunidade,
and they were unable to access them.
Peter explained to the leaders.
os chefes escutaram-no.
They turned the tables.
He explained what the disease was.
Explicou o que era a doença.
to their communities.
às suas comunidades.
everything that made us human.
tudo o que nos torna humanos.
the way you would in this situation.
pegar nos vossos filhos
the way that you would.
os vossos mortos como gostariam.
in these space suits to do that for you.
com estes fatos espaciais, para isso".
happened then was rather extraordinary:
foi muito extraordinário:
Peter, they sat down together
e Peter reuniram-se
for controlling Ebola in Lofa County.
para controlar o Ébola no Condado de Lofa.
an important story, ladies and gentlemen,
right at the center of this epidemic
que está mesmo no centro da epidemia
you've been seeing in the newspapers,
the television screens,
without seeing a single case of Ebola.
que não há um único caso de Ébola.
the job is done, obviously.
que o trabalho esteja feito.
that there will be additional cases there.
de aparecerem mais casos.
is that Ebola can be beaten.
é que o Ébola pode ser vencido.
that we saw in this environment here,
a que assistimos neste ambiente,
with health care workers, work together,
com os socorristas e trabalham em conjunto,
in Lofa County in the first place?
no Condado de Lofa?
12 months, to the start of this epidemic.
que recuar 12 meses,
this virus went undetected,
este vírus não foi detetado,
or four months when it began.
ou quatro meses, quando começou.
a disease of West Africa,
da África Ocidental,
half a continent away.
a meio continente de distância.
the disease before.
nunca tinham visto esta doença.
they were dealing with,
even more complicated,
a type of a presentation
um tipo de apresentação
the disease, people who knew Ebola.
não reconheciam a doença.
for some time,
durante algum tempo.
sometimes these days,
there was a rapid surge in of support.
houve um rápido avanço no apoio.
center, as many of you know, in the area.
de tratamento do Ébola na área.
and the partners that it works with
e os parceiros que trabalham com ela
over the next two months
nos dois meses seguintes
is by then, this virus,
had spread too far.
espalhara-se demasiado.
one of the largest responses
uma das maiores respostas
to an Ebola outbreak.
a um surto de Ébola.
not just Guinea
were also infected.
a Serra Leoa e a Libéria.
the numbers were increasing
geograficamente, os números aumentavam
hundreds of people infected
centenas de pessoas infetadas
the front line responders,
os ajudantes da linha da frente,
responders
os outros ajudantes,
recognized the emergencies.
reconheceram a emergência.
they agreed on common action
joint operation center in Conakry
de emergência conjunto em Conacri
disease and get it stopped,
com a doença e fazerem-na parar,
we talked about.
as estratégias de que falámos.
we had never seen before with Ebola.
nunca tinha sido vista antes com o Ébola.
or someone sick with the virus,
flew to another country,
we saw in another distant country
in the teeming metropolis of Lagos,
na populosa metrópole de Lagos,
there was international alarm,
houve um alarme internacional,
que não se tinha visto nos últimos anos,
we hadn't seen in recent years
called together an expert panel,
imediatamente um painel de especialistas,
declared an international emergency.
emergência internacional
that there would be a huge outpouring
haveria um enorme contributo
to help these countries
para ajudar estes países
and concern at that time.
e aflição naquela altura.
something very different.
uma coisa muito diferente.
many, many NGOs and others, as you know,
— muitas ONGs e outras, como sabem —
happened in many places.
aconteceu o oposto em muitos locais.
these countries found themselves
cada vez mais isolados
but increasingly isolated.
started flying into these countries
deixaram de fazer voos para esses países
tinham sido expostas ao vírus
exposed to the virus
for the countries themselves,
para os próprios países,
trying to bring people in,
a tentar recrutar pessoas
respond to the outbreak,
people on airplanes,
countries to be able to respond.
para poderem ajudar.
ladies and gentleman,
also we hadn't seen before.
continue in the places
but then it started to escalate
também começou a aumentar
that you see here,
que aqui veem,
on such a scale,
already infected in these countries
já infetadas nestes países,
deeper into these countries.
cada vez mais nestes países.
this was one of the most concerning
we've ever seen.
mais preocupantes que já vimos,
nessa altura,
read about in the newspapers,
ou leram nos jornais —
under the weight of this epidemic.
em colapso sob o peso desta epidemia.
markets no longer started,
os mercados a não abrir,
that they should in these countries.
que deviam nestes países,
misperceptions started to spread
começaram a espalhar-se
which became even more alarmed
mais alarmadas com a situação.
that you saw in those space suits,
que viam com fatos espaciais,
who had come to help them.
que tinham vindo ajudá-los.
deteriorated even further.
ainda se deteriorou mais.
a state of emergency.
o estado de emergência.
in some areas, and then riots broke out.
que ficar de quarentena nalgumas áreas
many people began to ask,
começou a perguntar:
when it starts to spread like this?
ele começa a espalhar-se desta maneira?"
do we really know this virus?
"Até que ponto conhecemos este vírus?"
Ebola extremely well.
muito bem o Ébola.
in terms of what we know about it.
em termos do que sabemos sobre ela.
in Central Africa in 1976.
na África Central, em 1976.
probably survives in a type of a bat.
sobrevive num tipo de morcego.
a human population
entra numa população humana
com um animal bravio
and probably sickened by it.
e provavelmente está doente.
spreads from person to person
de pessoa para pessoa,
por fluidos corporais.
that it then causes in humans,
que provoca nos seres humanos.
severe fevers, diarrhea, vomiting,
diarreia, vómitos
of the cases or often more, death.
ou mais ainda, a morte.
debilitating, and deadly disease.
debilitante e mortal.
this disease for a particularly long time,
esta doença há pouco tempo
we do know how to stop this disease.
that are critical to stopping Ebola.
para deter o Ébola.
have got to understand this disease,
têm que perceber esta doença
how it spreads and how to stop it.
e como detê-la.
systems that can find every single case,
que possam detetar cada caso,
so that you can stop transmission.
para podermos deter o contágio.
specialized Ebola treatment centers,
especializados no tratamento do Ébola,
possam estar protegidos
to the people who are infected,
às pessoas infetadas
the same time dignified, burial process,
de sepultura seguro, mas digno,
at that time as well.
também nessa altura.
strategies work, ladies and gentlemen.
e essas estratégias funcionam.
by these four strategies
com estas quatro estratégias
as implementaram.
them, obviously.
spread, and also in the other countries
e também noutros países
in this outbreak.
por este vírus, neste surto.
these strategies actually work.
se estas estratégias resultam.
was whether these strategies could work
podiam funcionar a esta escala,
with so many countries affected
growth that you saw.
exponencial que viram.
facing just two or three months ago.
enfrentámos há dois ou três meses.
because of the extraordinary work
do trabalho extraordinário
of governments, of local leaders,
de governos, de líderes locais,
and other organizations
outras organizações humanitárias
to try and stop Ebola in West Africa.
para deter o Ébola na África Ocidental.
was slightly different.
foi um pouco diferente
I just showed you;
que vos mostrei:
the case finding, contact tracing, etc.,
a procura de casos,
e adaptaram-nas
they approached it differently.
que fizeram uma abordagem diferente.
first try and slow down this epidemic
abrandar a epidemia
possible in specialized treatment centers
em centros de tratamento especializados
from spreading from those were infected.
espalhassem a doença.
many, many burial teams
muitas equipas de coveiros
deal with the dead,
com os mortos com segurança.
and slow this outbreak
be controlled using the classic approach
usando a abordagem clássica
e despistagem de contactos.
about three months ago,
eu fui para a África Ocidental
what I saw was extraordinary.
vi uma coisa extraordinária.
operation centers themselves against Ebola
de emergência contra o Ébola
and oversee and champion
supervisionarem e apoiarem
to try and stop this disease.
para tentar parar a doença.
e de locais afastados
those countries and from far beyond
centros de tratamento do Ébola
Ebola treatment centers
those who were sick.
para isolar os que estavam doentes.
its partner agencies on the ground there
suas parceiras no terreno,
they could actually safely bury their dead
the World Food Program,
do World Food Program,
corner of these countries rapidly
os voluntários de todos os cantos,
that we just talked about.
as estratégias de que já falámos.
which was probably most impressive,
foi o mais impressionante
by the governments,
with the communities,
com as comunidades,
understood this disease,
entendessem esta doença,
would have to do to try and stop Ebola.
que fazer para deter o Ébola.
dois ou três meses antes,
only two or three months earlier,
what you see now in this graph,
em 1 de dezembro.
bend that curve, so to speak,
reduzir a curva, por assim dizer,
to the ability to control this outbreak.
de controlar este surto.
there's absolutely no question now
não há a menor dúvida
in West Africa and we can beat Ebola.
na África Ocidental e vencer o Ébola.
that many people are asking,
que muita gente coloca
that's great you can slow it down,
é ótimo que possam abrandá-la
drive it down to zero?"
no início desta palestra,
back at the beginning of this talk,
o Condado de Lofa na Libéria.
how Lofa County got to a situation
o Condado de Lofa encarou a situação
Ebola for eight weeks.
há oito semanas.
semelhantes noutros países,
the other countries as well.
actually diagnosed.
foi diagnosticado o primeiro caso.
in the last couple of months,
nos últimos meses,
another area in the epicenter,
outra área no epicentro,
for more than a couple of weeks --
victory, obviously,
para cantar vitória,
catch up to the disease,
pode ser reduzida a zero.
à escala necessária, nestes três países
is doing this on the scale needed
and that is a huge challenge.
for this long, on this scale,
durante todo este tempo, a esta escala,
come in to join the virus.
juntamente com o vírus.
da doença começa a diminuir,
disease curve starts to bend,
the world looks elsewhere.
o mundo olha para outro lado.
you've been working so hard for so long,
tanto durante tanto tempo,
nos últimos meses,
over the past months,
as pessoas ficam fatigadas
start to creep into the response.
começam a insinuar-se.
da África Ocidental.
I've just come back from West Africa.
the leaders of these countries,
os líderes desses países,
in their countries.
nos seus países.
but they are not fatigued.
mas não estão fatigadas.
to get this finished.
and gentlemen, at this point,
da comunidade internacional,
international community,
at this time, to get the job finished.
nesta altura, para acabar o trabalho.
means turning the tables on this virus,
significa inverter a situação deste vírus
rather, started with one case,
começou com um só caso
tiverem epidemiologistas suficientes,
have got enough epidemiologists,
logísticos suficientes
and enough other people working with them
of those cases, track their contacts
despistarem os contactos
stops once and for all.
pare duma vez por todas.
vocês contem esta história às pessoas
to tell it to the people who will listen
vencer o Ébola,
on what it means to beat Ebola,
we need you to advocate with the people
de insistir com as pessoas
need to these countries,
os recursos necessários a esses países
who will survive and will thrive,
que vai sobreviver e vai lutar
para ajudar a vencer o Ébola.
to help us beat Ebola.
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