06, Jan 2018 | CJP Team

The Guardian reported that two Ebola survivors are suing Sierra Leone’s government, alleging that “a lack of government accountability allowed the disappearance of almost a third of the money that came into the country during the early months” of 2014’s Ebola outbreak. The survivors’ case alleges that this infringed upon survivors’ rights to life and health, according to the Guardian. The Guardian said that an audit of the initial six months of Ebola outbreak revealed that resources worth nearly $15 million that were contributed to the government were not accounted for, comprising over 30% of the total that Sierra Leone received in those months. According to the Guardian, Sierra Leone documented more than 14,000 Ebola cases in two years, with 250 health workers dying. Survivors were promised free healthcare and a small financial amount, and surviving health workers were promised up to $5,000. However, Yusuf Kabbah, president of the Sierra Leone Association for Ebola survivors told the Guardian that they were promised “livelihood, healthcare, and psychosocial support,” but, “Now our members are dying because they don’t have any of those things.” According to the Guardian, the Red Cross in November acknowledged that $5 million of their funds for Ebola “was lost to misappropriation” in the countries that saw the outbreak–Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone–before it was deemed over in 2015.