Impact of the Recent Ebola Epidemics on Economies and Health Care Systems in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone

Abstract

The most recent terrible Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has had a serious effect on the economies and health systems of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, countries which already had weak infrastructure and very little else in the way of means and material. This research uses quantitative data and a qualitative approach to explore the impact of the pandemic on essential economic indicators – GDP and the performance of the health system. It was found that Liberia was the worst-affected in terms of economic impact (a decline of 10% of GDP) and health worker loss (20%), while Guinea fared relatively better in terms economic resilience. There were the most of confirmed cases in Sierra Leone (9,300), along with significant disruptions to vaccination. A qualitative analysis identifies several barriers including misinformation, burnout of healthcare workers, and inadequate epidemic preparedness. These results highlight the importance of investing in health systems, economic diversification, and regional cooperation to prevent the effects of future epidemics. The paper is conducting a comparative study among the three nation’s states and delivers some policy recommendation to improve the region epidemic resilience.