The U.S. Helped Defeat Ebola in 2014. Now, We’re Watching a Crisis Become a Catastrophe
I think that piece of shit Stephen Miller is smart and immoral enough to advise Trump to continue to do fuck-all so that when Ebola breaks out of Central Africa, the panic will be quite useful for ramming through all kinds of "emergency measures" to keep the Disease-Ridden Subhumans from the Shithole Continent--and anyone with too much melanin, frankly--out of lily-white America, what with its best air and water and health ever!
My biggest regret from the last Ebola response is that the world didn’t scale up earlier and faster. The 2014 crisis was unlike anything we had seen before and it exposed how ill-prepared America and the world were to respond to infectious disease threats.
But when America did lead, the rest of the world followed. The United States rallied technical experts and leaders from governments all over the world to launch a coordinated response to the Ebola crisis in Western Africa. Together, we leveraged American investments to yield new commitments from others and reminded the world that when there’s a moral imperative to act on global health, we will.
Now, this White House needs to decide whether it’s ready to answer that same call and lead. The World Health Organization (WHO) has only received half of the requested funds that are needed to fight the outbreak. While the United States certainly cannot solve this problem alone, we must rally the international community to fight this disease that knows no borders.
We also need to get out of our own way. The United States has sent Centers for Disease Control personnel and USAID Disaster Assistance Response Teams—some of the most talented and courageous professionals on the planet—to DRC, but for security reasons, our government has kept them away from the areas hardest-hit by the virus. It’s risky of course, but our best resources need to be on the front line, not the sideline.
As someone who has helped fight this ugly disease before, my experience compels me to speak out to Republicans, Democrats and anyone who is in a position of influence about the steps we can take to help control this outbreak. Right now, we’re watching a crisis turn into a catastrophe. We have the tools to defeat Ebola. What we’re missing is the political will. The time to start caring about Ebola isn’t when it reaches the shores of the United States or Europe, it’s now.
If we allow this inferno to engulf more communities and spread to more countries, we will not have Africa, the World Health Organization, or others to scapegoat. All we will need to assign blame is a mirror.