A protester dressed in protective equipment demonstrates, calling for for G20 leaders to address the Ebola issue
A protester dressed in protective equipment demonstrates, calling for for G20 leaders to address the Ebola issue, near the G20 leaders summit venue in Brisbane November 15, 2014. Leaders of the top 20 industrialized nations will gather in Brisbane November 15-16 for their annual G20 summit. REUTERS/Jason Reed

TIME magazine declared Ebola fighters as 2014 Person of the Year. Ebola doctors and nurses earlier finished fifth in the readers' choice list.

TIME Editor Nancy Gibbs gave a detailed explanation why Ebola Fighters had been preferred over others as its choice for the Person of the Year in 2014. Calling Ebola a Hollywood horror which reached the West only recently after tormenting African villages for decades, Gibbs said that the disease would dissolve organs and make eyes bleed. Doctors can generally stand and watch in despair as there is no cure. However, when Ebola turned out to be an epidemic, the special forces of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Christian medical-relief workers of Samaritan's Purse and several others from all over the planet battled it out with the help of local nurses and doctors.

When Ebola Fighters are asked what drive them, various people gave various answers. Some say that they are obliged to the country, some to God while some say that they love to run into the fire; Gibbs wrote. The fighters fight the killer disease even though they are totally aware that they can be infected. Getting infected with Ebola is like busting your head with an axe. Still, it does not discourage the fighters. Gibbs also wrote about Thomas Eric Duncan, the first diagnosed patient in the United States and the two nurses who also got infected while treating Duncan. People panicked so badly that #VamosAMorirTodos (We're all going to die) trended on Twitter.

The cover of the TIME magazine shows five doctors and nurses that include Dr. Kent Brantly, the U.S. missionary who Ebola. ABC News reported that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa had infected more than 17,800. The most-affected countries are Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was earlier declared as the winner of TIME magazine's "Person of the Year" by online voting. He was well ahead of Ferguson protestors who stand second in the poll. Top ten voted names in the TIME Person of the Year include 18-year-old Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong (3rd position with 7% votes), the youngest Nobel Peace winner Malala Yousafzai (4th position with 4.9% votes) and Ebola Doctors and Nurses (5th position with 4.5% votes).

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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