(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Former refugees from Sierra Leone say the international response to the Ebola outbreak has been too slow.
Sierra Leone and neighbouring Liberia are being devastated by the Ebola outbreak.
On one day alone -- last Saturday --121 people died in Sierra Leone.
With so many people in West Africa losing their lives, their relatives living in Australia say they are determined to try to make a difference.
Greg Dyett reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
While Ebola is now headline news and work is well under way to develop a vaccine, it is all coming far too late, as far as people like Sulaiman Forna are concerned.
Mr Forna says the Ebola threat was evident more than six months ago.
"It has actually come a little too late, because, since March, we've been advocating about the West to pay a lot of attention to the situation in Sierra Leone."
Sulaiman Forna settled in Australia 12 years ago as a humanitarian entrant from his native Sierra Leone.
Now living in Cairns, in northern Queensland, he is one of the founding members of the Sierra Leone Ebola Action Group.
"If the world continues to put more effort (into it), there's a possibility we can be able to win over Ebola quickly. But, currently, it's a struggle, trust me. It's actually got out of hand. You know, these countries became overwhelmed, and it was a strange occurrence. You know, if you factor in cultural aspects of West Africa, (that,) again, made it problematic. I mean, it took a really long time for people to understand. So there's a whole range of factors that are responsible for this."
The Action Group has raised money and organised a shipment of medical supplies to Sierra Leone, sending it off last weekend.
Isaiah Lahai is also a member of the group.
The former refugee, who now lives in suburban Hobart, says he had personal reasons to get involved.
"I took the campaign passionately, because I have lost eight of my close relatives to this Ebola virus. And looking at the situation on the ground, if we can work to help save one life, I think I'll be very happy and I will have peace. Because every day I go to bed, I think about (how) the situation on the ground in Sierra Leone is becoming very (much) worse."
Mr Lahai welcomes the Australian government's support for the Ebola outbreak.
So far, Australia has given $18 million to the Ebola response, in addition to the $40 million it gives the World Health Organisation each year.
But Isaiah Lahai says there is so much more Australia could be doing.
"Australia has got enough capacity to help the situation more than we are doing now, and the government can do much more by sending in medical teams -- which is the most needed thing at the moment on the ground -- by sending in doctors and nurses to train the nurses and doctors on the ground to better handle the Ebola outbreak, sending medical supplies which are needed. If we can do that as a nation, I believe we can help the situation on the ground."
Sulaiman Forna agrees, saying money cannot replace the medical expertise Sierra Leone has lost.
He points to the fact 50 medical professionals have been killed by Ebola.
"We lost 10 doctors and also 40 -- over 40 -- nurses to this Ebola virus, because they don't have the necessary attire and also the equipment to really do their job effectively."
United States president Barack Obama says some larger countries are not doing enough to combat Ebola, but he did not specify which ones.
"I'm going to be putting a lot of pressure on my fellow heads of state and government around the world to make sure that they are doing everything that they can to join us in this effort. We've got some small countries that are punching above their weight on this, but we've got some large countries that aren't doing enough, and we want to make sure that they understand that this is not a disease that's going to discriminate and this is something that all of us have to be involved with."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott maintains Australia is making a very significant contribution with its financial help.
"And the UN said that this is exactly the kind of swift and timely response that the world is looking for and asked other countries to do exactly the same kind of thing that Australia has done. So we are very significantly contributing to the international effort to combat Ebola in West Africa, and we are carefully screening all people arriving in this country from West Africa, and our public-hospital systems in every state are geared up to deal with any Ebola cases that might eventuate here in Australia."
