The lack of ambulances, hospital beds, and even plastic gloves have all played a role in allowing the disease to get out of control, particularly in the slums of Freetown and Monrovia.
Just as the downing of MH17 revealed the defects of mechanisms governing the security of global air-space, this deepening crisis has exposed the glaring inadequacies of global public health governance mechanisms.
Overall the conviction of Charles Taylor represents only a very partial achievement for the broader cause of transitional justice in Liberia and beyond, with the selective nature of the process its critical flaw