Neoliberal Health Reforms and the Failure of Healthcare in Sierra Leone: The Case of the Ebola Crisis

Abstract

The ongoing Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone illustrates the ways in which the security/development discourse that has emerged over the past two decades remains embedded in theoretical assumptions that have been shaped by a blend of realist and neoliberal theories. As we will show, the logical outcome of this orthodox security/development discourse is that it leads to a militarisation of what is in reality a complex social problem. The neoliberal policies adopted by governments in Sierra Leone has served to heighten these social problems and in so doing have created the conditions for the generation of the Ebola virus to emerge.